Exeter Airport has recorded the highest minimum daily temperature for Christmas Day.
Temperatures at the airport did not fall below 12.4C, beating the previous record of 11.5C measured at Waddon in Croydon in 1983.
In terms of maximum temperatures, the mercury hit 13.6C at Exeter Airport and Merryfield in Somerset, which makes Monday the warmest December 25 since 2016.
The Met Office announced the minimum temperature record on X on Monday morning, posting: “It has been a very mild 24 hours across parts of the UK.
“Provisionally this Christmas we have recorded the highest daily minimum temperature for Christmas Day on record, with both Exeter Airport and East Malling not falling below 12.4C.”
The new record further shattered dreams of a white Christmas for most of the UK, with milder temperatures continuing after the country saw its warmest Christmas Eve for more than 20 years.
The average maximum temperature for December is 7C.
Forecaster Dan Stroud said: “We’re drawing our weather from the mid-Atlantic, which is typically a very warm direction for us.”
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