The Met Office has confirmed 2022 was Scotland's hottest year since records began.

Every nation in the UK saw record-breaking annual mean temperatures in the past year.  In Scotland, the year's mean temperature reached 8.50°C, surpassing a previous record heat solidified in 2014 of 8.4°C.

The UK as a whole saw its annual average temperature pass 10°C for the first time since records were started in 1884.

The final figure of 10.03°C is 0.89°C above the 1991-2020 average and 0.15°C higher than the previous record of 9.88°C also set in 2014.

However, record-breaking annual temperatures may now be seen every three to four years, a study from Met Office scientists has revealed.

The research showed that human-induced climate change made the UK’s record-breaking annual temperature around 160 times more likely.

Such annual temperatures would have been a once-in-500-year occurrence if human climate influences were removed.

An attribution scientist for the national weather service Dr Nikos Christidis warned that a UK average temperature of 10°C could occur "almost every year" due to the impact of climate change.

He said: “To assess the impact of human-induced climate change on the record-breaking year of 2022, we used climate models to compare the likelihood of a UK mean temperature of 10°C in both the current climate and with historical human climate influences removed.

"The results showed that recording 10°C in a natural climate would occur around once every 500 years, whereas in our current climate it could be as frequently as once every three to four years.

“We also used climate models to project how often this sort of temperature could be recorded in the future.

"It was possible to calculate that by the end of the century, under a medium emissions scenario (SSP2-4.5), a UK average temperature of 10°C could occur almost every year.”

The UK reached a record-breaking annual mean temperature due to an exceptional heatwave in July. 

The hottest day ever recorded in Scotland saw the mercury soar to 34.8°C in the Borders on July 19.  Temperatures rose to 34.8°C in Charterhall - soaring past the previous record seen in Greycrook of 32.9°C on August 9, 2003.

Despite a drastic cold snap in December, the majority of the past year saw notably mild temperatures.  The freezing conditions last month saw lows of -17.3°C recorded in Braemar on December 13 - the coldest temperature since February 11, 2021.

The year came to an end with further extremes after heavy rainfall led to widespread floods in Scotland.

Train services across western, eastern and central parts of Scotland were severely disrupted on December 30 due to the poor conditions.

Head of the Met Office National Climate Information Centre, Dr Mark McCarthy, emphasises that the annual mean temperature passing 10°C was a "notable moment in our climatological history".

"This moment comes as no surprise, since 1884 all the ten years recording the highest annual temperature have occurred from 2003," he added.

"It is clear from the observational record that human-induced global warming is already impacting the UK’s climate.”

An overall shift towards warmer temperatures is also evidenced by the distribution of the records of the hottest and coldest years in the UK.

The Herald:

All ten of the warmest years recorded since 1884 took place in the past two decades.

However, not a single one of the top ten coldest years was recorded in 60 years.

The majority of the top 10 lowest annual temperatures are clustered before 1920, with the most recent year on the list being 1963. Dr McCarthy adds: “Even with the influence of climate change we don’t expect every year to be the hottest on record from now on.

"Natural variability of the UK climate means there will always be some variation year to year, however looking at longer term trends it is easy to pick out the influence climate change is having over time.”