Today Is The Warmest New Year’s Day On Record

No it’s not just your hangover making you feel a bit off, it really is unseasonably warm today, January 1.

In fact, it’s the warmest New Year’s Day on record, with a temperature of 16.2°C (61.1°F) recorded in St James’s Park, London.

The temperature beats the previous record for the UK, 15.6°C (60°F), as the country continues to experience ‘exceptionally mild’ weather for this time of year.

Yesterday, December 31, areas of Somerset and Cheshire experienced temperatures of 15.8°C, beating the previous record for New Year’s Eve of 14.8°C.

‘It is the first time since December 2016 that we have had three consecutive days reach 15°C. It has been a prolonged mild spell,’ Met Office forecaster Craig Snell said.

Average temperatures for this time of year in the UK are usually around 7-8°C. The warmer weather we’re experiencing is thanks to a south-westerly wind currently making its way across the country.

While it’s usually the colder temperatures that disrupt things, the milder weather has meant the ice rink at Somerset House in London was forced to close ‘due to the effect of the ongoing warm temperatures on the quality of the ice’.

However, the warm weather won’t last much longer, as the Met Office tweeted that things will ‘turn wintry this week with cold winds originating from the Arctic leading to overnight frosts, and snow for some by Tuesday’.