National Trust: last year’s weather set to be ‘new norm’
The National Trust is warning that 2022’s heatwaves, wildfires and floods could represent our ‘new normal’, setting a benchmark for future weather patterns.
Last year was the warmest ever recorded, with every month apart from December hotter than average. All four seasons were in the top 10 warmest since records began in 1884. Summer was a scorcher, with 40°C recorded for the first time in the UK. It was also the driest summer since 1976.
“It doesn’t mean every year will be the warmest on record,” says Dr Mark McCarthy, head of the Met Office’s National Climate Information Centre. “But climate change continues to increase the chances of increasingly warm years over the coming decades.”
