WIMBLEDON stopped for "rain breaks" and even the tenacious Tartan Army seemed about to be washed away by a year of hail and torrential downpours.
But experts yesterday said that 2007 is on course to be among the UK's hottest years on record.
Officials with the Met Office said new figures, which it compiled with the University of East Anglia, were further evidence of the need to tackle cli
mate change.
Globally, 2007 has so far been the seventh hottest since records began in 1850, with an average temperature of 14.4C. In the UK, where nationwide records have been kept since 1914, the 2007 average between January and December was 9.7C – fractionally lower than the record of 9.75C set last year.
However, a Met Office spokesman said this year's UK figure was likely to drop slightly as colder conditions set in over the Christmas break. The research shows that the 11 warmest average annual global temperatures were recorded in the past 13 years.
The findings were released as leading scientists and politicians from 189 countries met at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali to discuss ways of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Dr Dan Barlow, acting director of WWF Scotland, said: "Our own figures show in Scotland that 2007 could be in the top three hottest years. Six months this year have been at least a degree warmer than normal.
"However, as well as political changes, we should all be thinking of what we can do on an individual level – from choosing our transport carefully, perhaps taking less flights and turning down heating."
The Scottish Climate Bill is due to go for consultation in the New Year. It aims to cut emissions by 80 per cent by 2050.
The full article contains 303 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
