Scotland has failed to meet its first legally binding climate change target.
The first Scottish Greenhouse Gas Emissions Annual Target Report states that Scotland emitted 54.7 megatons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2010, 1.1 megatons above the target set by the Climate Change Act 2009.
At Holyrood, Environment Minister Paul Wheelhouse blamed "exceptional cold snaps", "year-to-year fluctuations", "factors beyond our control", "budget constraints", "the challenging financial environment" and data revisions for the rise.
But Labour accused the Scottish Government of using "every excuse under the sun, including the lack of sun" to detract from the "failure of their policy direction".
Mr Wheelhouse said: "Many will remember 2010 was a challenging year for all sorts of reasons, not least the two exceptional cold snaps. This was a major factor but not the only factor as to why emissions rose in 2010. Naturally, I and all members of the Scottish Government are disappointed that Scotland has missed its first climate change target; 2010's increase in greenhouse gas emissions was the first year-on-year increase experienced in Scotland since 2006."
Scotland's emissions have fallen by 24.3% since 1990, he said, predicting that they will "continue to reduce".
The UK Department of Energy and Climate Change recorded a provisional 25% reduction in UK domestic gas consumption between 2010 and 2011, which Mr Weelhouse believes will be reflected in Scotland's figures for 2011.
"When it voted unanimously to pass its Climate Change Act the Scottish Parliament acknowledged that meeting such ambitious targets would be challenging," he said.
"Year-to-year fluctuations and factors beyond our control are inevitable but the trend remains strongly downwards. Scottish ministers remain fully committed to delivering Scotland's ambitious and world-leading greenhouse gas emissions targets, despite the budget constraints and challenging financial environment we're all operating in.
"Extremely cold weather for prolonged periods at the start and end of 2010 had a major impact on emissions. The average temperature for January to March and October to December was the coldest since 1919. As a consequence, domestic heating emissions rose and the consumption of heating fuels increased."
