Climate change: UK's ten warmest years have ALL happened since 2002

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, The UK had it's hottest temperature earlier this year

The 10 warmest years in the UK have all happened in the last 17 years.

A new report by the Met Office, called the State of the UK Climate, has given evidence to support how climate change is affecting the UK.

The UK recorded it's hottest ever temperature - a whopping 38.7C recorded in Cambridge, on 28 July.

But it's the patterns of warm and cold years in Britain that scientists have found to be a clear signal of climate change.

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, The warmest year on record was 2014.

Scientist Dr Mark McCarthy said: "Our climate in the UK has warmed at a very similar amount to the global temperature rise, so just under 1C for the UK"

"Under that warming climate, we would expect that the hot extremes would tend to cluster in more recent times and the colder extremes are further back in time.

"Although we do still experience colder extremes like 'the beast from the east' last spring, generally speaking the story we have is that overall it's the warmer events and these higher temperatures that are dominating."

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, 2000 is one of the wettest years on record with 1,337.3mm recorded

The UK has also had six of its wettest years since 1998.

Prof Gabi Hegerl from the University of Edinburgh who wasn't involved with the study said: "Climate change already matters to the UK and makes a difference."