Despite still having an entire month to go, the United Nations has announced that the year 2023 is set to be the warmest on record.

The United Nations World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in a report, said the year was the hottest on record so far, with global temperatures rising 1.4 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

The WMO warned that 2023 had shattered a whole host of climate records, with extreme weather leaving “a trail of devastation and despair”.

WMO Chief Petteri Taalas said: “It’s a deafening cacophony of broken records”.

“Greenhouse gas levels are record high. Global temperatures are record-high. Sea level rise is record high. Antarctic sea ice is record low.”

The WMO published its provisional 2023 State of the Global Climate report as world leaders gathered in Dubai for the UN COP28 climate conference.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the record heat findings “should send shivers down the spines of world leaders”.