Met Office Scientist Dr Emily Carlisle said: “While many will remember the long warm spring and summer of 2025, what has been noteworthy this year has been the consistent heat throughout the year, with every month except January and September warmer than average.  

“In the six months from March to August, every month was at least 1 °C above the 1991-2020 average. This resulted in the warmest spring and the warmest summer we have seen in this series.” 

We are pleased to launch our new-look weather app this week.  

The refreshed app has been designed to make our weather forecasts and warnings clearer and easier to use. With enhanced technology behind-the-scenes, now we can do more efficient improvements and have a unified design across iOS and Android to better meet our users’ needs.   

Its features include new widgets, so you can see the latest forecast from your phone’s homescreen. You can also get instant notification of our severe weather warnings in your area and see all UK weather warnings from a single click.  

We’ll continue to add more features over the coming months, including regional and long-range text forecasts. 

If you already have our app, you’ll receive the refreshed app automatically or you’ll need to manually update, depending on your settings. It will also be available to download from the app stores for free. 

Towards the end of 2025, we published our outlook for the global average temperature in 2026, which suggested an extension of the run of years with a value above 1.4 °C, compared to pre-industrial levels. The observational series of global average temperature records extends back to 1850.  

Professor Adam Scaife leads the team behind the Met Office’s global forecast for 2026. He said: “The last three years are all likely to have exceeded 1.4 °C and we expect 2026 will be the fourth year in succession to do this. Prior to this surge, the previous global temperature had not exceeded 1.3 °C.” 

The New Year Plant Hunt, co-ordinated by the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI), is a survey recording plants in flower around New Year’s Day.  

Commenting on the 2025 survey, Kevin Walker, Head of Science at BSBI, commented: “This new analysis shows a very clear link between rising temperatures and impacts on our plant species. This is yet further evidence that climate change is affecting our wildlife indiscriminately. This is a visible signal that everyone can see in their own gardens and communities.”  

Our next UK Climate Projections (UKCP18) webinar will be on Thursday 29 January.  

Samantha Leader from Atkins Realis will speak about the applications of UKCP18 products for climate risk assessments and strategic investment decisions in the water sector. While the talk will have a focus on water, the methodologies presented will be transferable to other sectors.  

Future webinars will be on 26 February and 26 March.