News release

5 June 2007

Climate figures revealed as G8 leaders prepare to meet

As G8 leaders meet in Germany this week to discuss global issues such as climate change, the Met Office has revealed figures showing that the mean global temperature for the period January to April was almost 0.5 °C above the long-term average.

The Met Office global temperature forecast predicted that 2007 had a 60% probability of being the warmest on record, with a mean temperature 0.54 °C above the long-term (1961-1990) average of 14 °C.

David Parker, a climate variability scientist at the Met Office Hadley Centre said: "These latest Met Office figures show that the first four months of 2007 are on track with our global forecast for a warmer-than-average year, but the cool La Nina event developing in the equatorial Pacific could prevent 2007 from being the warmest ever year".

Met Office figures also reveal that this spring has been the warmest since UK-wide records began in 1914. The UK mean temperature for Spring 2007 was 9.0 °C, beating the previous record of 8.8 °C set in 1945. The three spring months of March, April and May all exceeded their long-term average temperatures.

The warm UK spring follows one of the warmest recorded winters, and a run of record breaking years – the last five years are the warmest on record – and this warming trend is consistent with our predictions from the Met Office Hadley Centre.

The Met Office works with government and other organisations by offering advice on the possible consequences and risks of climate change.

Provisional spring figures for the UK nations
	Mean Spring 2007 temperature	Previous or current record	Year of previous or current record
UK	9.0 °C	8.8 °C	1945
England	9.9 °C	9.6 °C	1945
Northern Ireland	9.0 °C	9.1 °C	1945
Scotland	7.6 °C	7.6 °C	2003
Wales	9.1 °C	9.0 °C	1945

Spring 2007 summary

More about G8 Summit 2007

Notes:

The Central England Temperature (CET) is the world’s oldest temperature series and dates back to 1659. Spring 2007 has been the second warmest on record with a mean temperature of 10.1 °C. The warmest spring was in 1893 with a mean temperature of 10.2 °C.

For further information:

Met Office Press Office