LONDON, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Britain's Met Office said in a report Tuesday that 2017 was confirmed as the fifth warmest year in Britain's weather records dating back to 1910.
In its fourth annual State of the UK Climate report, the Met Office said Britain's climate is warming.
The Met said the Central England Temperature series, which extends back to 1659, shows that the 21st century (since 2001) has so far been warmer than the previous three centuries.
Average temperature over the last decade (2008-2017) was 0.8 degree Celsius warmer than the 1961-1990 average, while Britain has also seen 8 percent more rainfall and 6 percent more sunshine.
In contrast to summer 2018, British summers have been notably wetter over the most recent decade, with a 20 percent increase in rainfall compared to 1961-1990, the study added.
Dr. Mark McCarthy, manager at the Met Office National Climate Information Center, said: "Our climate is changing, globally and here in the UK. People may not recall 2017 as having been a particularly warm year, with a relatively wet summer and snow in December. Despite this, when looking at the longer-term perspective, 2017 was still more than 1 degree Celsius warmer than our 1961-1990 baseline and ranks fifth warmest year overall for the UK."
British coastal water temperatures were also warm: hitting joint fifth warmest in a series since 1870.
Warmer than average temperatures from February to June, and also in October, helped position 2017's high temperature ranking, while the second half of the year saw temperatures nearer to average, the Met report added.
Nine of the 10 warmest years in Britain have occurred since 2002, and the top 10 have all occurred since 1990, the report revealed.
The highest daily temperature in 2017 was recorded at London's Heathrow Airport on June 21 when the mercury climbed to 34.5 degrees Celsius.
At the other end of the scale, the lowest temperature of minus 13 degrees Celsius was recorded at Dalwinnie in Inverness-shire on Dec. 11 and the following day at Shawbury in Shropshire.
The highest wind gust speed 151.3 km/h was recorded on Feb. 23, 2017 at Capel Curig in North Wales. In the mountain regions, the highest gust speed was 220.5 km/h on Dec. 23, at the Cairngorm summit in Scotland.
Mean sea level around Britain has risen at a rate of approximately 1.4 mm per year since the start of the 20th Century, equivalent to a rise of about 16 cm.
Alejandro Cardoza, spokesman for the Durango state civil protection agency, said the crash occurred at 3:40 p.m. local time.
