The world now has a 60 percent chance of experiencing its warmest year on record in 2007, said Britain's Met Office on the eve of the Group of Eight summit in Germany starting Wednesday.

The figures also revealed that this spring in Britain has been the warmest since records began in 1914, with the average temperature at 9.0 degrees Celsius, beating the previous record of 8.8 degrees Celsius set in 1945.

Globally, the British weather centre said that 2007 could set a record, but much depends on events around the world.

"These latest...figures show that the first four months of 2007 are on track with our global forecast for a warmer than average year," said Met Office climate expert David Parker.

"But the cool La Nina event developing in the equatorial Pacific could prevent 2007 from being the warmest-ever year," he added, referring to the cooling weather system in the Pacific rim basin.

The Met Office noted that the unusually mild spring followed one of the warmest recorded winters and a run of record-breaking years, with the last five years being the warmest on record.

From January to April this year, temperatures were nearly 0.5 degrees Celsius above the long-term average, with the three spring months of March, April and May all above their long-term averages, it said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is hosting the summit, will urge leaders to take an ambitious step forward on climate change, notably seeking a commitment to accept mandatory limits on the emission of greenhouse gases.

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