STATISTICS prove 2003 was one of the driest and warmest years on record in west Wiltshire leading experts to point the finger firmly at global warming.

Total rainfall for 2003 was 562.6mm making it the third driest year since 1950.

Only 1973 (560.1mm) and 1964 (538.2mm) were drier, with an average annual rainfall of 745mm.

Geoff Witts, who has been recording Trowbridge's weather for the Met Office for 25 years, said 2003 could have been much more serious.

"We had a very wet autumn in 2002 so there was plenty in reserve to cope with such a dry year, he said.

"The worry is that you miss those traditionally wet months and then we could really struggle through the summer if it stays dry.

"December and January are traditionally the wettest months and December this year did not let us down. The rain we have had in the past few weeks had a big impact on the annual total."

Temperatures in 2003 were also up with figures for Trowbridge proving it was hotter than average for 11 months of the year. October was the exception.

Met Office climate scientist David Parker said: "2003 has been another very warm year and six out of the seven warmest years since 1659 have occurred since 1990.

"Average global temperatures have risen by around .7C over the past 100 years and research shows that the warming over the past 50 years is mainly due to human activities such as burning fossil fuels."

Staff at the Met Office's Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research compared temperature rises since the beginning of the last century over six continents across the world. They believe the effect of greenhouse gases can be seen on every continent including Europe and is especially clear over North America, South America and Africa.

Dr Peter Stott, leading the team at the Hadley Centre, said: "The continental warming of the past few decades cannot be explained by natural factors such as solar changes, volcanoes or natural variability.

"But once we factor in the effects of human activity we find we can explain the warming that is observed. It is generally accepted that global-scale warming of the past few decades is largely due to emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide.

"Now we have gone a step further and show the same thing is happening on the scale of continents."

In August 2003 Trowbridge was officially named hotter than Rio when temperatures soared to 34C.

Mr Witts said: "In the past four or five years temperatures in Trowbridge have been well above average for at least eight months of the year. In 2003 this was very noticeable in August where the temperatures were three degrees above average."