December 2025: Hotter, Drier, and A lot Sunnier Than Common
Document-Breaking Calendar 12 months 2025: Second Warmest 12 months on Document at Armagh, Drier and A lot Sunnier Than Common
Armagh Observatory studies that December 2025 was hotter, drier, and far sunnier than common. With 54.7 hours of robust sunshine, it was the sunniest December at Armagh for 3 years and the tenth sunniest December on file.
Taking 2025 as an entire, this was the second warmest 12 months on file at Armagh, with a mean temperature of 11.0 levels Celsius (51.8 Fahrenheit). This was solely barely cooler, by 0.1°C, than the record-breaking 12 months of 2023, which had a mean temperature of 11.1°C. With 1,464.1 hours of robust sunshine, 2025 was additionally the fourth sunniest 12 months on file at Armagh and the sunniest calendar 12 months there for 66 years, for the reason that record-breaking 12 months of 1959, which recorded 1,512.3 hours.
Spring 2025 was the warmest and sunniest spring on file at Armagh, with a mean temperature of 10.7°C and 617.1 hours of robust sunshine. Summer time 2025 was the equal warmest summer season on file, with a mean temperature of 16.5°C, matching summer season 1995.
The typical temperature for December 2025 was 6.65°C (44.0°F), roughly 2.0°C hotter than the 225-year long-term December common at Armagh (4.64°C) and 1.4°C hotter than the newest 30-year common (1991–2020) of 5.23°C. This made December 2025 the equal twenty ninth warmest December on file, shared with December 2013.
The best most air temperature recorded throughout the month was a really gentle 14.7°C on the ninth. This was adopted by 14.5°C shortly earlier than the 09:00 GMT commentary on the identical day, attributed to the eighth, and by 13.6°C on the afternoon of the 14th. The ninth was the warmest December day at Armagh since 7 December 2016. The primary three weeks of the month have been a lot hotter than common, earlier than cooler, extra wintry situations set in round Christmas Day and continued into the primary ten days of January.
The bottom most air temperature, usually the good day, was 4.7°C on the twenty ninth. This was adopted by 5.1°C attributed to the thirty first, although it occurred within the early hours of 1 January 2026, and by 6.2°C attributed to the twenty seventh.
The best minimal air temperature, normally the warmest night time, was 8.2°C attributed to the eleventh, although it occurred at roughly 22:15 GMT on the earlier night. This was adopted by 8.1°C on the tenth and seven.7°C shortly earlier than the 09:00 GMT commentary on the twenty third. The bottom minimal air temperature was −3.4°C on the thirty first, adopted by −1.2°C on the sixteenth and −0.9°C attributed to the seventeenth however occurring shortly after the 09:00 GMT studying on the sixteenth. A fourth air frost of −0.3°C occurred within the early hours of the twenty seventh.
There have been 14 floor frosts throughout December. The bottom floor temperatures have been −8.5°C on the thirty first, −7.4°C on the twenty seventh, and −6.7°C on the sixteenth.
Whole precipitation for the month was 71.8 mm, together with 4 hint values, or 71.6 mm when hint values are excluded. This was roughly 92% of the 183-year long-term December common at Armagh and 88% of the newest 30-year common, confirming that December 2025 was drier than common.
The wettest day was the fifth, with 14.6 mm of precipitation, adopted by 10.4 mm on the 18th and eight.2 mm on the eighth.
A rainbow was noticed round lunchtime on the eighth, and bats have been seen flying alongside the Observatory driveway throughout the early night of the identical day. The next day was windy, with occasional robust gusts related to Storm Bram. Very small hail was noticed on the afternoon of the 18th throughout heavy showers. No snow or sleet was recorded throughout the month.
With 54.7 hours of robust sunshine, December 2025 had roughly 44% extra sunshine than the long-term December common and 27% greater than the newest 30-year common. The sunniest day was the 2nd, with 6.0 hours of sunshine, adopted by the twenty sixth with 5.9 hours, and the twelfth, sixteenth, and twenty fourth, every with 5.5 hours.
Wanting on the 12 months as an entire, each month besides January and September was hotter than common. A number of months, together with March, April, Could, July, and August, have been a lot hotter than common. The warmest months have been June, July, and August, with common temperatures of 15.3°C, 17.1°C, and 17.0°C respectively. Every month from March to August ranked among the many twelve warmest on file for its respective month at Armagh.
These situations resulted in 2025 turning into the second warmest 12 months on file at Armagh. The ten warmest years recorded there at the moment are 2023, 2025, 2022, 2007, 2024, 2021, 2006, 1949, 2017, and 1997. Six of those have occurred throughout the final ten years. The three warmest days of the 12 months have been 12 July (29.7°C), 20 June (29.3°C), and 12 August (27.9°C).
Whole annual precipitation was 761.7 mm, together with 40 hint values. This was roughly 93% of the long-term annual common and 92% of the newest 30-year common, making 2025 barely drier than common general. A drier winter, spring, and summer season have been offset by a wetter-than-average autumn.
Annual sunshine totalled 1,464.1 hours, round 16% above the long-term common and 14% above the newest 30-year common. This made 2025 the fourth sunniest 12 months on file at Armagh. The 5 sunniest years are 1959, 1911, 1905, 2025, and 1919.
The sunniest months of the 12 months have been Could, with 285.4 hours of sunshine; April, with 212.0 hours; and August, with 153.6 hours.
These information confer with observations made at Armagh Observatory, which has been recording the climate since 1795.
