Phil Jones Global temperatures are rising and have now reached unprecedented levels compared to the last millennium . The region has the longest instrumental records anywhere in the world, allowing recent changes to be judged in the context of the last 250-350 years. The series starts in 1659. All show unprecedented warmth during the 1990s, but earlier decades such as the 1730s and 1820s are comparable.
Variability is greatest in winter compared to the other seasons.
1740 was a severe shock to the region and to much of Europe, coming just after the warm 1730s. The warmest year was 1995, comparable to a number of other years in the 1990s and also to 1949. Office and the monthly data can be found online . Figure 2 shows seasonal and annual EWP time series. There is no evidence of longer-term trends but winters have been wetter since 1860 and summers have become drier since then, particularly since the 1970s.