Northern Ireland enjoyed its warmest ever May, says Met Office - and second warmest Spring

While it was also the warmest UK Spring on record, for Northern Ireland, it was its second warmest.

A Met Office spokesman said that acording to mean temperature, it was NI’s warmest May on record, with a 12.9C average mean temperature this year, beating the 12.3C record set in 2008

For Spring, it was Northern Ireland's second warmest, with 1893 still holding the record with 9.42C.

Families enjoy the sun on the beach at Bangor on Sunday 19 May 2024. Photo - Andrew McCarroll/ Pacemaker Press

The UK had its warmest May and spring on record, despite the wet, dull conditions for many parts of the country, according to provisional Met Office figures.

May 2024 recorded an average temperature of 13.1C for the UK, beating the previous record in 2008 by a full 1C, making it the warmest May in records dating back to 1884.

The Met Office said the month’s high average temperatures were influenced particularly by warm conditions in the northern half of the UK, and by high overnight temperatures.

Meteorological spring, which covers the months of March, April and May, was also the warmest on record, the figures show.

Across the three months of meteorological spring, March, April and May, the average mean temperature for the UK was 9.37C, beating the previous record of 9.12C set in 2017, with the warm conditions influenced by high overnight temperatures.

Eight of the top 10 warmest springs have now occurred this century, including all of the top five.

A Met Office spokesperson said: “While it may not have felt like it for many, with sunshine in relatively short supply, provisional figures show May was the warmest on record in our series back to 1884.

“This warmth was especially influenced by high overnight temperatures, with the average UK minimum temperature for May 1.2C higher than the previous record.

“Rainfall was above average for the UK, while some areas in the south saw over a third more rain than average.

“In contrast, Northern Ireland and Scotland were slightly drier than average in the month.”

The record warmth for the UK comes as the world has experienced a streak of record temperatures, continuing for 11 months in a row up to April 2024, which was the hottest ever recorded, data released last month showed.