YORKSHIRE experienced a warm and wet start to 2008, just as predicted by climate change scientists, says a pressure group.
Data analysed by the World Wildlife Fund UK covers weather figures from the Met Office for the first six months of the year.
The WWF says the latest figures, compared with the 1971 to 2000 average, show a continuing trend of higher temperatures and increasing rainfall.
In Yorkshire, January and February were unusually warm, with temperatures 2½°C (37°F) higher than average, reaching an average maximum temperature of 8.2°C (46°F).
And the trend continued in May, with temperatures 2°C hotter than the average for that month.
It was the fourth warmest January and the second warmest May for England since comprehensive records began in 1914.
The temperature rises were matched by increased bursts of rainfall across the county.
January saw over double the average amount of rainfall, with 182mm.
March saw an increase of 23% and April was up 39% on the average rainfall for the month.
It was the second wettest January for northern England since 1914.
