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Early figures coming into the Met Office for December are pointing to 2005 being a very warm, quite dry and sunny year, although there are regional variations. With still some days to go until the end of the year, preliminary data show that 2005 will continue the trend of warm years across the country. The average temperature across the UK was 9.5 °C and all areas were mild - around 1 °C above the long-term average temperature. Rainfall for the UK as a whole was just below average, but there were noticeable differences from north to south. Scotland had 104% of its average rainfall, while parts of southern and south-east England were the driest regions with only 76% - the driest since 1973. Sunshine amounts were up on the long-term average almost everywhere. Only Northern Ireland came in slightly below normal with around 93%. The sunniest area was northern England with 109% of its long-term figure for hours of sunshine. All observations from around the country will be collated by
the Met Office after the New Year. These have to be checked and
verified and so the final figures for 2005 could alter slightly.
One thing is clear however; this year will go down as another
very warm one, both for the UK and for the whole
planet. More information about the UK climate
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