2014 was the UK's warmest year on record, and fourth wettest

Provisional full year figures for 2014 show that it was the UK's warmest, and fourth wettest, year in records dating back to 1910, according to the Met Office. The same year was also the warmest year on record in the Central England Temperature series, which dates back to 1659 and is the world's longest running instrumental temperature series.

The UK's mean temperature for the year is 9.9°C, which is 1.1°C above the long-term (1981–2010) average and beats the previous record of 9.7°C set in 2006.

This data means that eight of the UK's ten warmest years have occurred since 2002.

Looking in more detail across the UK, 2014 was the warmest year on record for all countries and regions apart from Northern Ireland – which had its joint third warmest year, behind 2007 and 2006. The number of air frosts for the UK was also provisionally lowest in a series from 1961.

The year's provisional rainfall total of 1,297 mm was the fourth highest total on record for the UK in the series dating back to 1910, meaning that five of the UK's top six wettest years have occurred since 2000.