The Met Office has revealed that January 2025 was the fifth sunniest on record for the UK, with an average of 61.8 hours of sunshine.
It said: “The UK saw 30% more sunshine than the long-term average for the month. This was enough to put it as the fifth sunniest January on record in a series which dates back to 1910.
“Interestingly, four of the five sunniest Januarys have occurred in the 21st century.”
The north of the UK led the way in terms of sunshine, though all UK nations saw more sunshine than their long-term average.
Scotland had its sunniest January since 2001, with 49.4 sunshine hours and is provisionally its fourth sunniest on record. The nation’s sunniest January was recorded in 1959.
Met Office Scientist Emily Carlisle said: “While many will remember the impactful wet and windy weather from Storm Éowyn, it’s a mark of how unusually bright other days were that January 2025 will go down as one of the sunniest on record for the UK.
“We chiefly saw this as a result of frequent high pressure over the UK, bringing clear skies for many but also below average temperatures with little cloud to trap any warmth near the surface.”
Northern Ireland also had its seventh sunniest January on record with 63.3 hours, while Wales had its 10th sunniest with 61.6 hours.
Storm Éowyn was the UK’s most powerful windstorm for over a decade, with red warnings, severe impacts and several fatalities. A 100mph gust was recorded at Drumalbinand and 15 stations across the UK with more than ten years of history recorded their own respective highest January gust.
Brits on X (formerly Twitter) have responded with confusion and frustration at this reveal, with many arguing that January was far from sunny.
One wrote: “Eastbourne was very gloomy compared to usual. We didn’t get much sunshine at all!”
A second person wrote: “Fifth sunniest on record? I can count on one hand the number of sunny days we had. Cloud and fog was all we got.”
Another commented: “We’ve had nothing but clouds, clouds and more clouds.”
In its review of January 2025’s provisional weather and climate statistics, the Met Office revealed that it was also colder than average. Thanks mainly to an early cold period, the UK’s January average mean temperature was 3C – 0.9C lower than the current long-term average.
The 1961-1990 January long-term average mean temperature was 3C, while the 1991-2020 long-term average is 3.9C.
Rainfall amounts across the UK varied significantly in the month, with those in the south of England seeing 25% more rain than average, while those further north saw significantly less than average.
