A dark red stripe - one shade lighter than last year - will be added to the climate stripes mural on Jersey's Waterfront.

It's as Jersey Met confirms 2023 was the joint second hottest year on record.

Official records for Maison St Louis Observatory began in 1894.

The average temperature for last year was 13.34°C - equal to the average in 2014 and 0.22 degrees cooler than the 2022 record.

It was also the wettest ever in Trinity, where the weather station at Howard Davis Farm measured a total rainfall of 1,352.9mm. Records began there in 1932.

Paul Aked, Head of Meteorology for Jersey Met, said:

“While we may look back at 2023 and feel it has not been a particularly warm year, especially during July and August, the annual temperature calculation uses both the daily maximum and minimum temperature readings throughout the year.

“We’ve had many mild nights during the year, 14 were the mildest for that night since records began. Twenty-two nights during the year recorded a minimum temperature higher than the average daytime maximum for that day, ten of those during a very mild December.

“September was the warmest for that month on record, June the second warmest, with October and December both being the fourth warmest, when compared with records dating back to 1894, all contributing to the year being the equal second hottest on record.”

2023 in Jersey - annual average air temperature of 13.34°C - provisionally joint second hottest year since weather records began in 1894. @climatejsy @GovJsyIE https://t.co/xZ9PRDi5i8 pic.twitter.com/L4GwgfuB5l

— Jersey Met (@Jersey_Met) January 2, 2024

The sea temperature in 2023 was the fourth warmest recorded since 1960.

The climate stripes mural on Jersey's Waterfront is used as a visual illustration of how the island's climate is warming over time.

Deputy Hilary Jeune, the Assistant Minister for the Environment, says the statistics for 2023 are a stark reminder of the climate change challenges we face:

“We’ve made some significant steps forward over the past year as we began to implement the policies and initiatives of the Carbon Neutral Roadmap on our journey to net zero.

As we enter 2024, I’m optimistic that Islanders will play an ever-growing part in reducing emissions through changes, some big and some small, to the way we go about our daily lives.”