Met office says 2014 will be warmest year on record

The exact temperature for 2014 can be calculated only tomorrow(1 Jan), but the Guernsey Met Office senior meteorological officer says it is highly likely a new record will be set at 12.4C for the average annual temperature, compared to the previous high of 12.1C in 2003.

Although the highest temperature recorded during the year, 24.4C on 16 September, was lower than many other years, 2014 achieved its status of record warmth by virtue of very mild winter days, a warm spring, a very warm autumn and much more sunshine than usual, Martin Crozier said.

Sea temperatures also saw records this year – in September the island had a new high of 18.3C and in October it reached 18C.

Mr Crozier said this year was not particularly warm, but there was an absence of cold which pushed the temperatures up.

'A lot depends on the weather patterns.

'We have had a lot of winds from the south which brings up warmer air.'

He said weather patterns are not predictable, but it was just unusual to have such benign mild conditions that have lasted this long.

However, he did not think that the warmer conditions were due down to global warming.