2014 on course to be hottest year on record

Wednesday, December 03, 2014, 16:54 GMT -

Meanwhile, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) also said today that preliminary estimates show world temperatures could be one of the hottest, if not the hottest, on record.

"This is largely due to record high global sea surface temperatures, which will very likely remain above normal until the end of the year. High sea temperatures, together with other factors, contributed to exceptionally heavy rainfall and floods in many countries and extreme drought in others," said the WMO in a statement.

In the UK, January to November is already the warmest period on the Central England Temperature (CET) series.

Meteorologists from the University of Reading believe there is 75% the year will be the warmest period since the records began in 1772.

The CET record does not include the whole of the UK, roughly covering the English Midlands between Oxford, Bristol and Lancashire. The official stats covering the whole UK began in 1910 and will be released by the Met Office later in the year.

Bob Ward, policy director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change, told the Weather Network: "These figures [from the CET] show global warming is continuing even though the rate of increase in global mean surface temperature has temporarily slowed over the past 15 years," Bob Ward told the Weather Network today.

“It is also consistent with the rise in sea level, decline in glaciers and polar ice sheets, increase in heatwaves and intensification of rainfall in some parts of the world," he added.

Last month, Bob Ward said Met Office figures showed it was the warmest year so far since records began in 1910.

It has been a weird year of weather in the UK. Every month, aside from August, has seen above average temperatures. Despite January and February being wet, September was the driest on record and Halloween was the warmest ever.