The Met Office said it hit 16.2C in London – breaking a record set more than 100 years ago.
Image source, PA Media
Following the warmest New Year’s Eve on record, new highs have also been set on 1 January, the Met Office says.
St James’s Park in central London saw temperatures of 16.2C (61.2F) on Saturday as 2022 was ushered in.
It comes after warm air from the Azores has been reaching the UK in recent days, bringing unusually mild weather to many areas.
The previous New Year’s Day record was set in 1916, when it reached 15,6C (60.1F) in Bude, Cornwall.
BBC weather forecaster Ben Rich said: “It’s extremely unusual. We’ve had winds coming from the south and south west bringing very warm air from the Azores – nearly all the way from the tropics – wafting across the UK and it’s that which has lifted the temperatures.
“It’s been with us for a few days now and warming up day by day.”
Whilst we await confirmation of any new highest minimum #temperature records, St James’s Park has now provisionally beaten the record for the warmest #NewYearsDay. Further temperature updates will be issued later pic.twitter.com/s3QIiFbNJP
— Met Office (@metoffice)
Overnight on Friday, it reached 16.5C in Bala, Gwynedd, north Wales, making it the hottest New Year’s Eve on record.
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.
Image source, Getty Images
Image source, Getty Images
But temperatures are due to fall from Tuesday with it being much colder, and there could be wintery showers, forecasters say.
The average temperature for December and the beginning of January is usually around 7C or 8C.