In Pictures: Heatwaves, storms and a big freeze all hit UK in 2022

A stormy start to the year made way for record high temperatures – and then floods and a big freeze.

It is fair to say the UK experienced all four seasons in 2022.

A stormy start to the year made way for record high temperatures – and then floods and a big freeze.

Winter weather Jan 29th 2022 — A person on a windy Tynemouth beach on the North East coast as Storm Malik swept in in January (Owen Humphreys/PA)

Winter weather Feb 19th 2022 — A runner looks at wind damage in London as Storm Eunice struck in February (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

Dudley and Eunice were both named on February 14 – the first time two storms have been named at once.

Winter weather Feb 20th 2022 — Beste Onal, from Richmond, has her hair swept across her face by the wind as she runs along the Long Walk in Windsor Great Park in February (Jonathan Brady/PA)

Winter weather Feb 24th 2022 — A man on a paddle-board makes his way along a flooded lane in Uckinghall, near Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, in February (Ben Birchall/PA)

In April, the UK was warmer than California at 23C and the mercury continued to rise.

Spring weather Apr 24th 2022 — Members of the public walk past cherry blossom trees in full bloom in The Meadows in Edinburgh during fine April weather (Andrew Milligan/PA)

Spring weather May 11th 2022 — A brood of Canadian goslings cross the footpath alongside the lake at Calderstones Park, Liverpool in May (Peter Byrne/PA)

Records were also broken in Wales – with 37.1C seen at Hawarden Airport in Flintshire on July 18 – and Scotland – at 34.8C at Charterhall on July 19.

Summer weather July 19th 2022 — A couple sunbathe as a China Eastern flight comes into land at Heathrow Airport, London in July (Jonathan Brady/PA)

Rail services were heavily disrupted, with no services into or out of London King’s Cross, no Thameslink or Great Northern trains north of London, and only very limited services on East Midlands Railway.

Sunflowers in bloom — Nicholas Watts, left, with his daughter Lucy Taylor and grandson Ralph, three, amongst their crop of sunflowers at Vine House Farm in Deeping Saint Nicholas, near Spalding, Lincolnshire in July (Joe Giddens/PA)

Summer weather Aug 11th 2022 — A person jogging on a path amongst dead grass in Victoria Park, east London in August (Victoria Jones/PA)

One regional service said the number of open fires tripled in a week while the Met Office warned most of England was at exceptional risk.

Kew Gardens’ autumn colour — Autumn colours on display at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew in October (Yui Mok/PA)

A resident of a village where flames swept through on the UK’s hottest day ever said it was “like a scene from the Blitz” after around 19 houses were destroyed.

Autumn weather Oct 31st 2022 — A car makes its way along the B3046 near to Old Alresford in Hampshire at Halloween (Andrew Matthews/PA)

An entire street became engulfed in flames in one area, with neighbours gathering together to seek refuge in a local church, residents said.

Autumn weather Nov 3rd 2022 — A wet fox near Southwark Crown Court, south London in November (James Manning/PA)

Winter weather Dec 9th 2022 — A man jogging during misty weather in Primrose Hill, London, early in December (Victoria Jones/PA)

Arctic weather in December, accompanied by wintry downpours and “freezing fog”, saw weather alerts issued as the mercury dropped to as low as minus 9C in the village of Benson in South Oxfordshire.

Winter weather Dec 12th 2022 — Deer in Richmond Park in south-west London on December 12 (James Manning/PA)

Winter weather Dec 18th 2022 — People ice climbing on the frozen Kinder Downfall, High Peak in Derbyshire on December 18 (Danny Lawson/PA)