The next two years will be the hottest on Earth, but the UK is set for a cold spell
The world's average temperature is set to reach a record high this year and next, according to a report by the Met Office.
This is because of a combination of the effects of greenhouse gases and a major El Nino event currently taking place in the Pacific.
El Ninos are characterised by the appearance of an unusually warm band of water in the equatorial Pacific region, which results in a reversal of wind patterns across the Pacific.
Scientists expect the El Nino to peak this winter, and as a result believe temperatures in 2015 and 2016 will be at or near their highest in history.
For the year to date, the Earth's average temperature is 0.68 degrees-Celsius higher than the average in 1961-1990.
Cold spell for Europe
But the warmer weather won't be experienced by everyone – in the UK and the rest of Europe, summers are expected to cool down.
This is because changes in the Atlantic Ocean over the coming decades are expected to offset rising temperatures caused by the El Nino, resulting in colder and possibly drier summers in the region.
Adam Scaife, who led research for the report, said the Earth's climate system was at a “turning point”.
He added:
We believe we are at an important point in the time series of the Earth's climate and we'll look back on this period as an important turning point.That's why we're emphasising it because we're seeing so many big changes at once.A lot of those things are natural, we've had El Ninos when we were cavemen, that's been going on a long time, and similarly there is evidence for variations in the Atlantic going back 1,000 years through various proxy measures.