Global climate: seasonal Seasonal average temperature and precipitation anomalies are shown in Figures 4 and 10. During the northern hemisphere winter of 2010/2011, temperatures over central and north Africa were significantly above average, and warmer‐than‐average conditions extended through the Middle East and across southern Asia. In contrast, the north of Eurasia was colder than average. The west of South America was predominantly colder than average and the east warmer than average. In Australia, temperatures were below the 10th percentile in the north of the country and much of the country was wetter than average. Figure 10 Open in figure viewer PowerPoint Seasonal total precipitation anomalies expressed as a percentage of the 1961–1990 normal. Data are provided by the Global Precipitation Climatology Centre (GPCC; Rudolf and Schneider, 2005; Rudolf et al., 2010). In the northern spring, large areas of Eurasia were significantly warmer than average; only in southeast Asia were there areas of significant cold. The spring was unusually dry across much of Europe, with only the more southerly and northerly areas being wetter than average. Areas of Africa from which we have observations were warmer than average. Australia was significantly cold. In North America there was a distinct north‐south split, with the north being significantly cold and wet and the south significantly warm and dry. The northern summer again saw significant warmth across much of Eurasia, the Middle East and north Africa. North America was significantly warmer than average in the south and east, but there were areas of below average temperature in the west. South America was warmer than average in the north and cooler than average in the south. The north of Australia continued to be colder than average, but significant positive anomalies were recorded in the south. Above‐average summer and autumn rainfall in parts of Indochina led to severe flooding in Thailand. The northern autumn brought widespread significant warmth over land areas, only parts of the Middle East, northern Australia, the southeastern US and Alaska being cooler than average. Over Europe, the pattern of temperature and rainfall during the autumn was similar to that of the spring. Drier‐than‐average conditions extended eastwards from the southern UK, with wetter‐than‐average conditions in the far north and south. Temperatures were generally above average.

Acknowledgements The authors were supported by the Joint DECC/Defra Met Office Hadley Centre Climate Programme (GA01101). John Prior and Mike Kendon of the Met Office National Climate Information Centre assisted with the UK information. They would like to thank Phil Jones at the University of East Anglia who contributed to the land‐surface temperature analysis and Andrew Colman who prepared the Sahel rainfall data.