UK weather: Spring 2025 was hottest on record, fuelling drought fear
Britain has had its hottest and sunniest spring on record amid rising fears of widespread droughts this summer.
Conditions described as 'unprecedented' by the Met Office also delivered the country's driest spring in more than 50 years.
The average temperature for spring in the UK this year was 9.5C, up 1.4C on the long-term average for the season. Last year had been the record holder, and eight of the ten hottest springs have happened since 2000, noted by the Met Office as 'a sign of our changing climate'. Northern Ireland and Scotland were notably warmer, up 1.6C on the average.
A study by American researchers has shown that spring is the fastest-warming season in Britain. The average spring temperature has increased by 1.8C since 1970, Climate Central, a research group, found.
The Met Office said that average daytime temperatures were 'particularly remarkable' this spring, hitting a maximum of 14.6C, above the previous record of 14C in 1893.
Overall, spring had 653.3 hours of sunshine, beating the lockdown spring of 2020 by more than 27 hours.
The combination of sunny days and cool nights has been good news for strawberries, which growers say are bigger and sweeter than usual.
However, it was also the UK's sixth-driest spring since records began in 1836. Only 128.2mm of rain fell between March and May this year, 40 per cent less than average. England had its driest spring since 1893.
Conditions have left reservoirs at lower levels than they were during the drought of 2022, when widespread temporary hosepipe bans were implemented.
Last week the Environment Agency officially declared drought across northwest England. The move has allowed water companies to progress to the next stages of their plans to conserve water. The Midlands and the northeast have also been particularly dry, although the water firm Severn Trent has insisted that no hosepipe ban will be necessary.
Emily Carlisle, a Met Office scientist, said: 'The UK's climate continues to change. What's particularly notable about spring 2025 is the combination of record warmth and sunshine, alongside very low rainfall.'
The reason for the hot, dry and sunny weather has been persistent high pressure systems dominating the atmosphere from February until late May, the agency said. Scientists are still investigating whether such weather systems are becoming more likely due to climate change.
The heat has also been seen at sea, where a 'marine heatwave' affected much of the Irish coast and the west coast of the UK. Sea temperatures were up to 4C above normal, a phenomenon more usually seen in the Mediterranean.
The prediction for this summer does not offer much relief for those who struggle in heat. The Met Office's three-month outlook, issued on Monday, said that summer was twice as likely to be hotter than normal.
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