Water temperatures near UK last year were hottest on record, say scientists

State of the UK Climate report shows sea surface temperatures 0.9C higher than the 1961 to 1990 average

The water near the UK's coasts was hotter in 2023 than scientists have ever before recorded, a report has found, with children today experiencing a hotter and wetter climate than that in which their parents and grandparents grew up.

The sea surface temperature near coasts was 0.9C hotter and winter rainfall across the country was 24% greater over the last decade than the average from 1961 to 1990, according to the State of the UK Climate 2023 report. It found the number of hot" (28C) days has more than doubled over that period, and the number of very hot" (30C) and extremely hot" (32C) days has more than tripled.