The UK has recorded its sunniest year ever – and we are only halfway through December.
But a bumper spring and summer for sunshine have already put 2025 firmly in the top spot for sunshine hours across the UK, according to provisional Met Office statistics.
The sunny spells were driven by frequent periods of high pressure that reduced clouds and locked in sunny skies for many parts of the country.
Though it may be hard to believe, Britain’s weather has generally been getting sunnier over the past few decades – but scientists can’t yet say why.
This year, up until 15 December, the country clocked up 1,622 hours of sunshine, beating the previous sunniest year of 2003.
All that sunshine drove a record year for solar power, by a huge margin.
Met Office senior scientist Mike Kendon said: “Spring was exceptional, and many will remember the long spells of days with largely unbroken sunshine.”
So far this year, only the months of February and October recorded below-average sunshine hours, he added.
But the bounties were not shared equally across the nations.
England enjoyed its sunniest year ever. But 2025 has likely not even made the top 10 for Northern Ireland, even though it was above average.
Scotland is on course for its second-sunniest year, and Wales its sixth, albeit with two weeks still to go.
Why is the UK getting sunnier?
The UK has broadly been getting sunnier since the 1980s, but the cause of the trend remains a mystery.
It could “simply be down to natural variability”, the Met Office said, meaning it could well change in future.
Or it may be explained by a “reduction in particulates [known as aerosols] over the UK, partly due to clean air laws introduced to combat acid rain”, said Edward Gryspeerdt, associate professor in atmospheric physics, Imperial College London.
Aerosols cause clouds to reflect less light, so fewer of them…
