Sea surface temperature (SST) and air temperature over the sea within the mid-latitude North Atlantic and UK coastal waters have been rising by 0.2 – 0.6 ºC per decade over the past 30 years.

Warming is greatest within the English Channel and North Sea where temperatures have risen faster than land temperature.

Warming is also evident in waters of the upper 1500 m of the North Atlantic.

Climate change models anticipate that SST will continue to rise in all waters around the UK coast, with stronger warming in the south-east (~0.15 – 0.4 ºC per decade in the southern North Sea) than the north-west (~0.05 – 0.2 ºC per decade at Rockall).

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