• This year, the UK enjoyed its warmest April since 1910 

  • Huge difference from 2010 which was the 12th coldest year on record

By Jill Reilly

Last updated at 6:45 PM on 30th December 2011

After the balmiest Boxing Day for 28 years, it may come as no surprise to learn that 2011 is predicted to be the second warmest in the UK since records began more than a century ago.

Despite the summer being disappointingly cool, temperatures this past year were a degree warmer than the period between 1971 and 2000, figures from the Met Office show today. 

In the past month, there have been reports of daffodils budding and blooming in sheltered areas, while growers in south-west England are already harvesting brassicas like cauliflower which they would usually expect to see mature in spring.

Warmest on record: Early blossom on a tree in St.James's Park in London today as the extremely mild weather continues to confuse nature

Warmest on record: Early blossom on a tree in St. James's Park in London today as the extremely mild weather continues to confuse nature

Winter sunshine: Two youngsters make the most of the winter sunshine during a trip to Tynemouth Beach in North Tyneside today

Winter sunshine: Two youngsters make the most of the winter sunshine during a trip to Tynemouth Beach in North Tyneside today

The average temperature so far this December has been 4.7C, 0.5C above the 1971-2000 average.

This is a big swing from 2010, when temperatures were 5C below average to notch up the coldest December on record.

The average temperature for the UK in 2011 was nearly 9.73C  - compared to the long term average of just 8.59C. 

Records dating back to 1910 show the year 2006 was only slightly warmer than 2011 with an average of 9.73C.

Seven of the top 10 warmest years have occurred in the last decade.

Daffodils flower on a verge in the village of Priston, near Bath, today due to the recent unseasonably warm weather

Daffodils flower in the village of Priston, near Bath, today due to the recent unseasonably warm weather

Primulas grow beside a road today in Keynsham, Somerset

Primulas grow beside a road today in Keynsham, Somerset after weather confusion in the plant kingdom

This year the UK enjoyed its warmest April since 1910 with temperatures 3.7C above average.

Britain also experienced an Indian Summer with October 1 becoming the warmest October day for more than a century when temperatures soared to 29.9C at Gravesend in Kent.                

It is a huge difference from 2010 which in contrast was the 12th coldest year on record, with a UK average temperature of just eight degrees.

Enlarge   The average temperature for the UK in 2011 was nearly 9.73C - compared to the long term average of just 8.59C

The average temperature for the UK in 2011 was nearly 9.73C - compared to the long term average of just 8.59C

'It has been a rather topsy turvy year and very different to last year,' said Tom Morgan, a forecaster for the Met Office.

'We had the warmest April on record, followed by a rather disappointing summer where temperatures were close to average and there was lots of rain.

'Then in the autumn we had the warmest October day since records began and have then had a November which was three degrees above average.'

The coldest day in 2011 was January 8, when temperatures dipped to minus 13C in Altnaharra in Scotland.

3-DAY WEATHER FORECAST

Saturday (New Year's Eve)
South: Cloudy with light rain 
Max 12c (54f) Min 11c (52f)
North: Cloudy with light rain            
Max 11c  Min 7c (45f)
                               
Sunday (New Year's Day)
South: Cloudy with sunny spells        
Max 11c Min 4c (39f)
North: Sunny spells                            
Max 8c (46f)   Min 1c (34c)
 
Monday
South: Sunny spells                           
Max 7c Min 5c (41f)
North : Sunny spells and light rain     
Max 5c  Min 3c (37f)

Gravesend was again the location for the warmest October temperature ever, when 29.9C was recorded on October 1, beating the previous record of 29.4C at March in Cambridgeshire on the same day in 1985.

The amount of rainfall also varied massively across the country.

Scotland had its wettest year on record with 73.2in (1,859.5mm) of rain, beating the previous record set in 1990.

But further south, parts of England had had very low rainfall.

East Anglia had its second driest year on record with just 17.6in (449mm) of rain and the Midlands had its third driest with 23in (586.5mm).

Just before Christmas, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) granted South East Water a drought order to help it refill Ardingly Reservoir, which was just 12 per cent full by the end of November, because of 'an exceptional lack of rain over the last eight months'.

South East Water said at the time: 'Normally we would expect rainfall in the early autumn to replenish our reservoirs after the summer, but an exceptionally dry September, October and November raised the urgency of the situation.'

Here's what other readers have said. Why not add your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards.

The comments below have been moderated in advance.

The Earth is so hot at it's core that I doubt we really know why there are annual fluctuations on it's surface. For centuries ego from hot or cold winters there are vague patterns but pollution is probably helping to warm it up a little but no where near what they predicted. It will be the greed of the electric and gas companies that will push polution to it's limit. The high high cost of electric and gas is causing people to open fire places again and install log burners, this is causing a complete U turn on cutting pollution it's absolutely farcical that we worry about cars when fires will start to pump out tons of pollution all over the UK we will quickly head for smoggy winters and summers never mind warmer ones. It's time to Nationalize the electric companies and go full speed to generate relatively cost friendly electric heating for all. Otherwise people will resort to cheap burning methods to heat their homes.Tip burn the bookcase before the chairs.

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"..The Medieval Warm Period may have been mostly a regional phenomenon, with the extremes reflecting a redistribution of heat around the planet rather than a big overall rise in the average global temperature...the planet has been warmer in the past few decades than at any time during the medieval period. In fact, the world may not have been so warm for 6000 or even 125,000 years..." New Scientist, 16-MAY-2007

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I suppose that since they are not going to get the tax they expected from our over stated electricity and gas bills, they are going to use a slightly warmer winter than usual to think up ANOTHER tax!

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It has not a been a balmy autumn and hottest ever spring in Northern Ireland. It has rained just about every day since the big thaw last January. Dont tar the whole of the UK with the same brush as the South of England

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It was odd in that it was cold and dry when it usually is hot and wet; it was hot and dry when it should have been cold and dry - but here the emphasis was on far too much dryness and in many places in the south and east, virtually drought conditions and not nearly enough rain.

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A very craftily worded article, using carefully selected statistics, to try to perpetuate the global warming myth.....

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and I quote 'The best minds on our planet have provided strong, independent evidence that our planet is warming and that the rate of warming is accelerating. It will have profound impacts for all countries and all species unless a systematic attempt to reduce emissions begins immediately. - Jon Moore, Liverpool, 30/12/2011 17:03' Sadly Jon..you assume it's human emissions that are causing global warming.... oh and independent evidence paid for by a someone who will benefit from attempts to reduce so called greenhouse gasses... yeah that's independent.

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There is nothing wrong with asking questions about global warming, but don't leave it at that. Go and find the answers to your questions. One thing science must not do is try to tell people what to think, it should encourage dialogue and allow people to express their opinions. "SkepticalScience" is a great website to start with. It provides answers that includes evidence produced by scientific studies to commonly asked questions on global warming. Nobody likes tax, but green taxes are the only way to stimulate incentives and demand for new and more efficient ways of doing things in our lives, such as transport, which currently pollute or produce excessive greenhouse gas emissions. A reduction in greenhouse gases will also have considerable health benefits for all humans, particularly in cities.

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"Seven of the top 10 warmest years have occurred in the last decade" - remember this when the global warming deniers get going with their false science, lies and distortion. - Steve, Eastleigh, 30/12/2011 16:01 ------------------------ As is pointed out ad nauseam, don't you know the difference between local weather and global trends? The data used here is selected with an agenda in mind. for example 'Scotland had its wettest year on record with 73.2in (1,859.5mm) of rain, beating the previous record set in 1990.' What part of Scotland? You're talking about a country with a four thousand foot range of mountains up the middle. Normal rainfall is 30 - 33" on the East coast, 36 - 40" on the West and 84" at Fort William. Shetland, which is on the same lattitude as Moscow, temp range -40C - +40C, seldom varies more than 15C throughout the entire year.

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"Seven of the top 10 warmest years have occurred in the last decade" - remember this when the global warming deniers get going with their false science, lies and distortion. - Steve, Eastleigh, 30/12/2011 16:01====Anyone with a functioning brain cell would agree that the climate is changing, Steve, that is what climate does, it changes just has it has done countless times over the eons, without any help whatsoever from man. What I do dispute is that this naturally occuring cycle can be halted and even reversed by the application and extraction of "green" taxes, when all these do is enrich the few whilst impoverishing the many.

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