Article Tags: Met Office, World Temperatures
Britain was wetter, warmer and sunnier than usual in 2009, the Met Office is set to announce this week.
Provisional figures indicate average UK temperatures over the year were 1.1F (0.6C) higher than the long-term average for 1971-2000. There was nine per cent more sunshine than the long-term average, but also four per cent more rain.
Overall, 2009 was the 14th warmest year since 1914 – but also the second-coolest since 2002. The Met Office said its year-end data shed little light on global warming but fitted the pattern of UK temperatures “pitching in above average” in recent years….”At the moment it is the 14th warmest since 1914. So it is in the upper bracket and very much in line with what we have seen in recent years of temperatures pitching in above average,” he said….The Met Office said in early December that 2009 would be the fifth warmest year worldwide since the 1850s and that the first decade of the new millennium was the warmest on record. It is also predicting that 2010 is likely to be the hottest year ever recorded worldwide.
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Source: telegraph.co.uk