The world may be facing a vicious cycle in which extreme weather caused by climate change drives up energy use for heating and air conditioning, further increasing planet-warming emissions, BP has warned.

The oil company said its analysis showed that global energy demand and emissions grew faster than expected last year, mainly due to “an unusually large number” of hot and cold days.

BP said that it was possible this was just “random variation” in weather patterns but it could also be the case that there was “a link between the growing levels of carbon in the atmosphere and the types of weather patterns observed in 2018”.

Spencer Dale, BP’s chief economist, said: “This would raise the possibility of a worrying vicious cycle: increasing levels…