SCOTLAND is on track to experience its warmest year ever recorded, a leading environmental campaigner has warned.
The prediction comes as calls intensified for Scottish leaders to ramp up action to tackle climate change after Storm Floris battered the country last week.
Unseasonably strong winds and heavy rain caused widespread disruption across the country, leading to cancelled ferries, trains and flights, the closure of bridges and power cuts affecting nearly 50,000 homes.
Multiple trees came down in the high winds, blocking roads and damaging properties, while campervans were blown over in the Isle of Skye. Wind speeds reached more than 100mph in some of the most exposed and mountainous locations.
Environmental campaigners say the unseasonably high winds and heavy rain, combined with rising temperatures in Scotland, mean action has to be taken now to mitigate against the costs of climate change, while also prioritising a just transition from oil and gas.
The storm came just after Scotland had experienced its fourth warmest July on record. It was also the seventh warmest month in Scotland’s temperature records, which go back to 1884.
“Six of seven months of 2025 have been warmer than average, five of them more than 1C warmer,” said environmental campaigner Richard Dixon.
“If this trend continues, 2025 will be the warmest year ever recorded in Scotland, beating 2022. Nine out of 10 of the warmest years in the 142-year record have been this century, the exception being 1997.”
Members of Scotland’s climate coalition said Floris was a potent reminder that everything possible must be done to limit the rise in world temperatures, which is known to increase the frequency and severity of extreme weather events.
They stressed that better protection to safeguard communities against the dangerous and costly impacts of severe conditions is also urgently needed.
Mike Robinson, chair of Stop Climate Chaos Scotland (SCCS), told the Sunday National: “Over the past five years, we have seen less and less commitment and yet more and more impacts.
“Storm Floris was another example of the sort of extreme weather we are going to have to get more and more used to.
“Just this one storm disrupted trains for half the week, cut power to thousands of homes, damaged roofs and infrastructure and left debris everywhere.
“Fortunately, there was no loss of life and lots of people can work from home but the streets were deserted and high streets – which are struggling anyway – were empty.
“If we stop and think about the cost this is having already, knowing these events will become more commonplace, there is an urgent need to see more action to avoid future emissions and protect communities and infrastructure from the worst damage – whether that is high winds, flooding or wildfires.”
He added: “We need to do a much better job of explaining and funding solutions through education and skills and we need to ensure public bodies and businesses are taking steps to limit their impacts.
“We need to channel our efforts into those things which will make the biggest difference. Ideally those things which will also help tackle other societal problems like inequality and fuel poverty.
“And we need to be assured that our political leaders are taking the issue seriously.”
Human-caused climate change made the world’s 10 deadliest extreme weather events of the past 20 years – including killer storms, heatwaves and floods – more intense and more likely, according to new analysis by scientists from the World Weather Attribution group at Imperial College London.
SCCS coalition manager Becky Kenton-Lake said: “Floris is not the first summer storm to blast Scotland and it won’t be the last. However, Scotland’s leaders must do everything necessary to guard against climate impacts and ensure communities are protected against the worst effects of wild weather.
“We need to see proper progress on slashing greenhouse gas emissions in a way that is fair and to dramatically boost our natural defences by restoring peatlands, planting trees and improving wetlands.
“The Scottish Government has an ideal opportunity to make this happen with its upcoming new Climate Change Plan, which is expected before the end of the year.”
