2014 set to be Scotland’s hottest year on record

THIS year is on course to be the hottest and one of the wettest ever recorded in Scotland.
But it's also on course to be third wettest in more than a century. Picture: Malcolm McCurrachBut it's also on course to be third wettest in more than a century. Picture: Malcolm McCurrach
But it's also on course to be third wettest in more than a century. Picture: Malcolm McCurrach

The country has already experienced its warmest spring since records began in 1910 and temperatures have been above average for nine of the ten months so far. Only August was cooler.

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The latest Met Office figures show annual rainfall levels have been higher than usual, putting 2014 on track to be the third wettest in more than a century.

The hottest year so far was 2006, but 2014 will break the record unless a cold spell strikes in the next few weeks.

The average yearly temperature between 1981 and 2010 was 7.4C, but this year has been warmer, at 8.3C.

Environmentalists said this continuing increase in temperatures and rainfall backs up predictions about the effects of global warming.

They are warning Scots to brace themselves for increasingly erratic and extreme weather.

Dr Richard Dixon, director of Friends of the Earth Scotland, said: “2014 is on course to be the hottest year ever recorded in Scotland. This would mean that eight years since 2000 are in the top ten warmest since records began in 1910.”

The International Energy Agency has warned that emissions from energy generation are putting the world on track to see temperature rises of 3.6C, despite a boom in renewables.

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