UK weather: New Year's Day sees new record temperatures

The UK had its warmest ever New Year's Day, with record high temperatures being set across the country.

The Met Office - the UK's national weather service - said St James's Park in central London saw temperatures of 16.3C, breaking a record set more than 100 years ago!

New records were also set in Scotland and Wales, with 15.9C recorded in the Highlands and 15.6C recorded in Flintshire.

Usually at the start of January, temperatures are on average around 7C in the UK.

The extremely mild weather has been caused by warm sub-tropical air flowing from the Azores - a group of islands in the mid-Atlantic Ocean.

It has been so warm that the skating rink at London's Somerset House had to close on New Year's Day because the ice was being affected!

It's the second day in a row that new high temperatures have been set in the UK - as Friday was also the warmest New Year's Eve on record.

But weather experts say that the mild weather is coming to an end and temperatures will fall back down and return to average over the next couple of days, with snow being forecast for some areas next week.

What's the weather been like where you live? Let us know in the comments below..