Icy waters? University of Hull scientists believe Yorkshire seas to be the warmest ever

Seas off the Yorkshire coast are set to break records in 2025 according to scientists at the University of Hull, with average surface temperatures now at their highest since modern records began in 1982.

Hull Marine Laboratory researchers have recorded higher than average temperatures off the coast of Scarborough every month from January this year. The North Sea may now be the warmest it has ever been, they believe.

With temperatures two degrees warmer than in the 1980s, some key marine species are under threat.

Professor Rodney Forster, head of Hull Marine Laboratory said: “We measure sea temperatures from surface to the seabed at three, six and 12 miles in a straight line off the coast of Scarborough, comparing our recordings with those from satellites and regional buoys.

“What we’re seeing this year is consistent with a long-term pattern, gradual warming month on month. Temperatures can vary from day to day. The highest temperature ever recorded was in 2022, but the likelihood is that 2025 will be the warmest on record.

“In 1986 the average temperature from January to August was 8.2 degrees. So far this year it’s been 10.7 degrees. That might not sound like a lot but its on the edge of what some types of seaweeds can survive, and they in turn support a broad range of other species.

“The sea is responding to global warming. It’s also possible that weather patterns are changing and there is less mixing of cold deep waters and surface waters leading to higher surface temperatures.
“Warmer waters will lead to rising sea levels exacerbated by melting ice on land flowing into the seas. The impacts are global.

“The North Sea seems to be a bit of a hot spot, warming faster than elsewhere and we don’t know yet why that is. It may be changes in circulation patterns or changes in wind patterns. What we can say is that for this young sea, six to 10,000 years old and formed at the end of the last ice age, chances are that it’s probably never been warmer.”