Summer 2006 was the warmest on record

This summer has been the warmest extended period in 350 years.

It's hardly news that it has been an extremely warm summer. A summer that started early last May and seems for some of us to be still going strong in October.

The Met Office in the United Kingdom has not only confirmed what we know but has released some startling facts about summer 2006. Again sadly 'record breaking' has it seems become the norm, but the records that were broken this year are exceptional.

The Met Office standardise the temperature measurements for England and Wales into what is known as the "Central England Temperature (CET). Summer 2006 was the warmest extended period on record since records began almost 350 years ago.

The records for Scotland and Northern Ireland date back to 1914 and when this data is included it shows that May to September was the warmest for all areas of the British Isles.

In a press release issued on 17th October, the Met Office points out,"The mean temperature of 16.2 °C for the period was 2 °C higher than the average for 1961-1990. The 2006 period included the warmest month ever, July, and a record temperature for September. The observed Central England temperatures are consistent with recent findings by Prof. David Karoly of the University of Oklahoma and Dr Peter Stott of the Met Office Hadley Centre."

The Met Office also points out that the research showed the recent rapid warming of the CET is almost certainly due to human influence - the first time this has been rigorously identified on such a small geographic scale.

Find out more about Climate Change.