Coldest December on record for nearly 30 years

December 2009 was the 3rd coldest ever recorded

December 2009 was the coldest December since 1981 and the 3rd coldest ever recorded, according to WWF Scotland.

Based on data from the Met Office, last year was the 13th warmest and the 4th sunniest ever recorded for Scotland.

The last decade was the warmest ever, half a degree warmer than the average for the 1990s, which was the next warmest decade.

And despite the recent cold, the Met Office is already predicting that this year could be the hottest ever.

2009 contained the wettest November, the 3rd wettest August, the 3rd warmest April and the 3rd sunniest January ever recorded in Scotland.

11 of the 12 months of 2009 were warmer than average.

'Increasingly rare'

Director of WWF Scotland, Dr Richard Dixon, said: "Despite the December chill, 2009 was the 13th warmest year ever recorded, with every month but December warmer than average.

"The arctic air that has chilled us since early December was a cool blip against a background of steadily increasing temperatures.

While December was a reminder of winters past, from the Borders to the North East many parts of Scotland saw big floods during the year, a clear taste of our future, warmer and wetter climate Dr Richard Dixon WWF Director

"No doubt we will see the occasional harsh winter month in future but they will become increasingly rare.

"While December was a reminder of winters past, from the Borders to the North East many parts of Scotland saw big floods during the year, a clear taste of our future, warmer and wetter climate.

"2009 was a crucial year for climate change with the world-leading Scottish Climate Change Act passed unanimously by the Scottish Parliament but world leaders failing to agree a new international climate deal in Copenhagen.

"During 2010 the Scottish Government must continue its work to ensure we meet the 42 per cent cut in emissions by 2020 as set out in the Act."

Wet weather

The summer of 2009 was the 4th wettest summer ever, following 1985, 1948 and 1956.

July was the 5th wettest July in the east of Scotland. November was the wettest November ever recorded.

October was a degree warmer than usual. It had average rainfall across Scotland but the North East was 50% wetter than usual.

September was more than a degree warmer than the average. The month had lower than average rainfall but this concealed very heavy rain early in the month which caused floods in Elgin, Aberdeenshire and the Borders.

123.6mm (5 inches) of rain over 24 hours was recorded at Fochabers.

August was the 3rd wettest August ever recorded and the joint wettest ever (with August 1985) in the west of Scotland.

The five warmest years since records began are 2006, 2003, 2007, 2004 and 2005.

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