In Pictures: Records tumble and reindeer stop traffic in 2025 weather highlights

Weather alerts were issued across the UK in the early days of the year as 2025 got off to a wet and chilly start.

New Year’s Day brought high winds to many areas including Folkestone in Kent (Gareth Fuller/PA)PA Archive/PA Images - Gareth Fuller

The snow caused the usual chaos…

A man digs a car out of the snow near Allenheads, in the Pennines in Northumberland (Owen Humphreys/PA)PA Archive/PA Images - Owen Humphreys

… but plenty of hardy souls were determined to make the best of the icy conditions.

Skating on a frozen field in Upware. The Cambridgeshire Fens were the birthplace of British speed skating (Joe Giddens/PA)PA Archive/PA Images - Joe Giddens

Towards the end of January, two people were killed, more than a million were left without power and there was significant travel disruption as Storm Eowyn battered the UK and Ireland.

A car stranded among fallen trees in Larbert, near Falkirk (Andrew Milligan/PA)PA Archive/PA Images - Andrew Milligan

Despite rain, flooding, freezing temperatures, snow and the most powerful wind storm in more than a decade, the year started with the fifth sunniest January on record, with an average of 61.8 hours of sunshine across the UK.

The Northern Lights over Derwentwater in Cumbria (Owen Humphreys/PA)PA Archive/PA Images - Owen Humphreys

England then enjoyed its sunniest March on record – and its sixth driest – as persistent high pressure brought long spells of clear weather.

Holidaymakers enjoy the sunshine on Bournemouth beach (Andrew Matthews/PA)

On March 14, early risers were were treated to a partial lunar eclipse – or “blood moon” – as the moon moved into Earth’s shadow, gradually darkening before turning red.

The lunar eclipse above Canary Wharf in London (Yui Mok/PA)

April was also the sunniest on record for England since records began in 1910, and the other home nations had their second sunniest.

The unusually warm temperatures and dry weather set the stage for a scorching start to May, with firefighters battling wildfires and warnings over the “hidden dangers” of open water swimming.

A disposable barbecue caused a blaze ‘around the size of two rugby pitches’ in the Trossachs (Hamish Thomson/WTML/PA)PA Media - Hamish Thomson/WTML

Despite thunderstorms in the middle of the month and a soggy Late May Bank Holiday, more records fell as the UK enjoyed its warmest spring and its driest in more than 50 years.

Figures from the Met Office showed 630 hours of sunshine were clocked up across the country between March 1 and May 27.

People shelter from the sun in Regent’s Park (Jordan Pettitt/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Jordan Pettitt

The summer got under way with widespread heat alerts as the UK caught the edge of a so-called “heat dome” – a large area of high pressure trapping hot air for prolonged periods – which pushed temperatures to extreme highs in parts of continental Europe.

It was the warmest June on record in England and the second warmest for the UK since Met Office data began in 1884. Northern Ireland recorded its hottest day of the year on June 20, with 28.6C in Armagh and Derrylin.

Princess Charlotte and the Princess of Wales keeping cool in the Royal Box at Wimbledon (Adam Davy/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Adam Davy

July 12 was the year’s hottest day in Scotland – 32.2C in Aviemore – and Wales, where the temperature reached 33.1C in Bute Park, Cardiff. A week later the UK’s hottest day of the year was recorded at 40.3C in Coningsby, Lincolnshire.

The blistering conditions were taking their toll, with hosepipe bans imposed in many regions as a third heatwave took hold.

Dry banks at Ladybower Reservoir in the Peak District National Park (Danny Lawson/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Danny Lawson

August began with a blast from Storm Floris in Scotland and northern England which brought chaos to roads, railways and ferry services. A record-equalling gust of 82mph hit Wick Airport and 71,000 homes were left without power.

Workers cut up a felled tree in Blyth, Northumberland (Owen Humphreys/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Owen Humphreys

Then a fourth heatwave of the summer descended, with heat alerts in place for much of England.

The clear skies made for ideal viewing conditions for some spectacular celestial displays.

Timelapse image of the annual Perseid meteor shower seen from near Hawes in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (Danny Lawson/PA)PA Archive/PA Images - Danny Lawson

The hot weather came to an end as thunderstorms brought rain and flooding to parts of the country, and early September saw the wettest week in England for seven months, but fire chiefs revealed that crews in England and Wales had responded to 996 wildfire incidents so far in 2025, the highest number on record.

A gamekeeper using a leafblower at a wildfire in Scotland (SGA Media/PA)PA Media - SGA Media

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks said Storm Amy, which swept through in early October, was one of the most severe storms in recent memory as it left power lines damaged in 750 locations and 90,000 properties without power.

In Ireland, one man died in the Letterkenny area of Co Donegal and hundreds of thousands were without power across the island.

Hardy souls on Blackrock diving tower in Salthill, Galway (Brian Lawless/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Brian Lawless

The UK escaped relatively unscathed later in the month as Storm Benjamin moved away, but persistent grey skies and low cloud spelled an average of just 63.3 hours of sunshine in October, the lowest total for the month for nearly 60 years.

The following month, Storm Claudia had a “devastating” impact in Wales and a major incident was declared in Monmouth after “severe and widespread” flooding.

Dozens of people were rescued from their homes or evacuated in Monmouth (Ben Birchall/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Ben Birchall

No sooner had Claudia moved away than a cold snap sent temperatures plunging as low as minus 11C, recorded at Loch Glascarnoch in the Scottish Highlands.

Reindeer stop traffic near Aviemore in the Cairngorms (Jane Barlow/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Jane Barlow

Then the UK had a rainy start to meteorological winter – December started with severe gales in the Scottish Highlands and Islands, and heavy rain in south-west Scotland. This was followed by Storm Bram, which caused disruption across the UK with widespread flooding, flights and trains cancelled and hundreds of properties left without power.

Flooding in York (Danny Lawson/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Danny Lawson