Storm Babet was the single weather event with the most impact during the year. It hit the country between 16 and 21 October, bringing widespread prolonged and heavy rainfall.
And the country had a very dramatic near miss too. Storm Ciaran had the potential to be as severe as the “Great Storm” of 16 October 1987, says the Met Office. Winds of up to 100 mph (160 km/h) killed 21 people across Europe when it struck in early November 2023, but the UK was lucky, the strongest winds bypassed the country to the south.
The report came as the record for the world’s hottest day tumbled twice in one week, according to the European climate change service.
On Monday the global average surface air temperature reached 17.15C, breaking the record of 17.09C set on Sunday.
It beats the record set in July 2023, and it could break again.
Climate change has already made extreme weather events, such as heatwaves, heavy rainfall, storms and droughts, more frequent and stronger in many parts of the world. Scientists say they these events will become more intense and happen more often unless the world can make dramatic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
