UK saw hottest-ever year in 2022 as Europe’s climate warms

By JILL LAWLESS
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Britain had its warmest year on record in 2022, the latest evidence that climate change is transforming Europe’s weather. The Met Office weather agency said the provisional annual average temperature in the U.K. was 10.03 degrees Celsius (50 Fahrenheit), the highest since comparable records began in 1884. Climate scientists say human activity has made such warm conditions vastly more likely. Countries including France and Spain also recorded their warmest years in decades in 2022, and 2023 is beginning with spring-like warm weather in many areas. Low and medium-altitude ski resorts in the Alps, the Pyrenees and other European ranges are suffering from a lack of snow.