LONDON, Jan 2, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Last year was Britain's hottest and sunniest on record, the national weather service confirmed on Friday, calling it a "clear demonstration" of the impacts of climate change.

"2025 now joins 2022 and 2023 in the top three warmest years since 1884," the Met Office said in a statement, noting the United Kingdom's mean temperature through last year was 10.09 degrees Celsius.

"This is an increasingly clear demonstration of the impacts of climate change on UK temperatures," it added.

"It is also only the second year in this series where the UK's annual mean temperature has exceeded 10.0C."

The previous record of 10.03C was set in 2022.

It means four of the UK's last five years now appear in the top five warmest years since 1884, and all of the top ten hottest years will now have occurred in the last two decades.

The Met Office had already announced last month that 2025 was the country's sunniest year since that record series began in 1910.

The UK -- which comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland -- saw 1648.5 hours of sunshine, 61.4 hours more than the previous record set in 2003.

An "exceptional" amount of sunshine during the spring followed by long spells of clear skies during the summer helped set the record, the Met Office has noted.

Mark McCarthy, its head of climate attribution, said the "very warm" year was "in line with expected consequences of human-induced climate change".

"Although it doesn't mean every year will be the warmest on record, it is clear from our weather observations and climate models that human-induced global warming is impacting the UK's climate," he added.