UK could swelter in regular 40C summers even if global warming is limited, experts say; Prof Liz Bentley, of the Royal Meteorological Society, says 2020 was the third-warmest, fifth-wettest and eighth-sunniest year on record.

Byline: By, Nada Farhoud & Sonia Sharma

The UK is likely to experience frequent 40C summers even if global warming is limited to 1.5C, experts have warned.

We are already seeing increasingly extreme weather, with 2020 the third-warmest, fifth-wettest and eighth-sunniest year on record.

Data in The State Of The UK Climate 2020 report reveals the average winter temperature last year was 5.3C -- 1.6C higher than the 1981-2010 average.

December 2019 to February 2020 was the fifth-warmest winter on record.

Prof Liz Bentley, chief executive of the Royal Meteorological Society, said the world was already 1.1C to 1.2C warmer than pre-industrial temperatures.

She added: "If you take that up by another 0.3C, these [heatwaves] are just going to become much more intense.

"We're likely to see 40C in the UK although we have never seen those kinds of temperatures [before].

"As we hit 1.5C of global warming, that's going to... become something that we see on a much more regular basis."

Mike Kendon, Met Office climate scientist and the report's lead author, said it revealed the UK's new normal, reports The Mirror.

He added: "In seven out of the last 10 years, we've seen temperatures of 34C in the UK compared to seven out of the previous 50 years before that.

"Our baseline of our climate is changing and what we regard as normal is changing."

He also said the 49.6C experienced by Canadians on the country's west coast this year would have...

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