Monthly average daily temperatures in the UK 2015-2020

In December 2015, the average daily temperature in the United Kingdom was 9.5 degrees Celsius. Not only were temperatures uncommonly high, it was also the wettest month ever recorded, with England, Wales, and Scotland suffering widespread flooding. Summer months were equally affected by humankind’s growing influence on the Earth’s climate. The summer of 2018 was the joint hottest since institutions began recording temperatures in 1910. That year, June and July were particularly stifling, noting an average daily temperature of 15.9 and 18.7 degrees Celsius, respectively. By comparison, the summer months of 2019 had a peak average temperature of 17.6 degrees Celsius as recorded in July.

Here comes the sun

Unsurprisingly, the heat wave, which spread across the British Isles in 2018, was the result of particularly sunny weather. July of 2018 saw an average of 8.8 daily sun hours, which was roughly two hours more than the average for all other years recorded. As for 2019, February proved to be especially noteworthy. On average, the sun shone 4.4 hours per day, roughly 0.7 hours more than the previous year.

It’s getting hot in here

The UK’s changing climate is aptly visualized by the steady increase in temperatures recorded between 1961 and 2018. Due to its relatively southern location, England continues to rank as the warmest country in the UK. There, annual average temperatures have grown from nine degrees Celsius in the time span between 1961 to 1990, to 10.4 degrees Celsius for 2018. Apart from Scotland, all four UK countries now have an annual average temperature of over nine degrees Celsius.