It may not feel like it as we approach the shortest day of the year on Sunday – but 2025 was England’s sunniest year ever.
The country had clocked up an average of 1,622 hours of sunshine by Monday, according to early Met Office figures.
That is comfortably above the previous record of 1,587 hours for the whole of 2003.
Across the UK, England had its sunniest year since records began in 1910, while Scotland had its second brightest, and Wales its sixth.
It’s not been quite such a sun-drenched 12 months for Northern Ireland, but with two weeks to go, it could yet finish inside its own top ten. An ‘exceptional’ amount of spring sunshine, followed by long spells in the summer, helped to make this year a record-breaker, Met Office experts explained.
The unbroken clear skies also helped make both spring and summer the UK’s warmest since data began, based on the mean average temperature.
Met Office senior scientist Mike Kendon said: ‘The record-breaking sunshine this year was driven by the frequent influence of high pressure that reduced cloud cover and brought sunny skies for many.
‘Spring was exceptional, and many will remember the long spells of days with largely unbroken sunshine.
‘It began with the third-sunniest March on record, followed by a record-breaking sunniest April and then the second-sunniest May.
‘All three months of the summer also saw above-average sunshine hours and while sunny periods are not unusual at this time of year, the duration and consistency of high-pressure systems made 2025 notably sunnier than average.’
Met Office sunshine data begins in 1910, while temperature data begins in 1884.
While it might be the sunniest year on record, weather forecast for the rest of week is decisively wetter with heavy rain forecast for much of the country tomorrow.
And going into the end of the week, the showers are set to continue on Thursday and into the weekend.
This year’s record-breaking weather has benefited the country’s energy sector, according to the National Energy System Operator (Neso).
Between April to August, solar power provided more than 10 per cent of Britain’s energy needs.
On July 8, solar set a new record for total output, providing over 14GW of electricity for the first time – enough to deliver more than 40 per cent of Britain’s needs at the time.
Craig Dyke, director of system operations at Neso, said: ‘Enabling low carbon technologies like solar to play their part in our energy future is critical to helping us on our journey towards building a cleaner energy future.
‘It’s hard to believe how far Britain has come over the past quarter of a century, with renewables now producing around 60% of our electricity, up from just 3% in the year 2000.
‘It really shows what’s possible when we back home-grown clean energy as part of our generation mix.’
The UK has generally become sunnier since the 1980s, though the cause of this trend is uncertain and may be down to natural variation in weather from year to year, the Met Office said.
Reduced use of aerosols ‘could be a factor’, while climate projections ‘currently show no definitive evidence of a future trend in sunshine amounts due to climate change’.
The Met Office is expected to publish an update next week on where 2025 will rank in terms of temperature and rainfall.
Energy minister Michael Shanks said: ‘Solar is one of the cheapest forms of power – getting us off fossil fuels and delivering energy security so we can get bills down for good.
‘The sunniest year on record highlights the huge opportunity we have to make the most of this clean energy source and keep installing more solar panels on schools, hospitals and homes.
‘As we move into 2026, we will scale up the solar power we need to shield households from volatile fossil fuel markets and tackle the climate crisis.’
Read more
- How is Britain on track for its sunniest and hottest year ever, breaking historic records?
- Could this year be crowned the consistently hottest ever, as Brits bask in a blazing 250 hours more sunlight than the 20-year average?
- Will the sunniest spring on record bring a record-breaking dry spell? Explore how the UK weather could set new extremes for sun and showers!
- Can the UK keep its sunny streak alive and beat the sunniest March record since 1910 with 171 hours of sunshine?
- Will Britain’s sunny skies set a new 2025 temperature record this weekend?
