43% more sunshine than average and unseasonably mild temperatures... Spring 2025 sets records in the United Kingdom

Agriculture on the front line. In recent weeks, the United Kingdom has seen uninterrupted blue skies, while temperatures have soared well above seasonal norms. Explore our full report to see how these conditions are impacting agriculture.

A new record in the United Kingdom: This spring was the hottest recorded in the UK since records began in 1884. With an average temperature of 9.5°C nationwide, it was 1.4°C warmer than the seasonal norm—an unprecedented anomaly for this time of year.
As climate change accelerates, it’s striking to note that all the warmest springs on record in the UK have occurred since 2017, underscoring the rapid pace of global warming at our latitudes. These unusually mild temperatures were consistently observed across the entire Sencrop network from early April through late May.

The UK's Met Office also confirmed that while air temperatures were extremely high for the period, sea temperatures reached record highs. According to public data, some areas of the sea experienced temperatures 4°C above their average.

Mild weather, lots of sun and a bit of rain

In recent weeks, weather disturbances have consistently bypassed the United Kingdom and much of Western Europe. Anticyclonic conditions have effectively kept low-pressure systems at bay, resulting in calm, low-humidity weather across our agricultural regions.
Sunshine levels have been exceptional—averaging 653 hours this spring, which is 43% above the seasonal norm. According to the Met Office, this is unprecedented since records began in 1910. Meanwhile, rainfall has been notably scarce, driving spring 2025 steadily toward drought conditions.
Across the Sencrop network, precipitation totals for the three-month spring period ranged between just 120 and 130 millimeters, marking this as the sixth driest spring since 1836, climatologists confirm.

Looking a little more closely, England experienced the least rainfall inland during the three months between March and May. This is unprecedented, according to official climate data, at least since 1893. Thus, several localities have already been placed under drought surveillance in England and Scotland, due to very low water levels in major reservoirs and several rivers in the region.

Unsurprisingly, the agricultural world quickly became concerned about this persistent weather situation, with field irrigation having to begin much earlier than normal due to the lack of rain. Upcoming weeks are being closely monitored, as summer has been underway for several weeks in our region.