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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Ajit Niranjan

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

A large crowd of people on the beach in Brighton
Scientists compiling the annual State of the UK Climate report say they have have started to pay more attention to extremes. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

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.

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