A record-breaking New Year’s Eve could be followed by the warmest New Year’s Day on record as Britain begins 2022 with a bout of “exceptionally mild” weather.

The Met Office is expecting highs of 14C or 15C on Saturday, with the previous record temperature on New Year’s Day standing at 15.6C.

Friday saw temperatures reach 15.8C in Merryfield, Somerset, and Nantwich, Cheshire, which beat the previous New Year’s Eve record of 14.8C.

Met Office forecaster Craig Snell said the prospect of records also being broken on New Year’s Day were “not out of the realms of possibility”.

It's been a very mild day with the warmest #NewYearsEve on record for the UK, England & Northern Ireland.

Both Merryfield & Nantwich recorded 15.8 °C, with Murlough recording 14.3 °C

Although Wales & Scotland didn't see their warmest on record it was still a very mild day here pic.twitter.com/3vyFF9z47R

“It is the first time since December 2016 that we have had three consecutive days reach 15C,” he said.

“It has been a prolonged mild spell.

“It may break records (on New Year’s Day), but I was much more confident we would see record-breaking temperatures on New Year’s Eve because the record for New Year’s Day is a bit higher.

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“It will still be an exceptionally mild start to 2022.”

Mr Snell added that the average temperature in December and the beginning of January is usually around 7C or 8C, and this year’s warmer temperatures have been due to a south-westerly wind making its way across the country.

Skate Update: Due to the effect of the on-going warm temperatures on the quality of the ice, we have had to make the difficult decision to also close our ice rink on 1 January. All customers are being contacted directly and given a full refund. 1/2

He added that the higher temperatures are usually localised, but “plenty of places” have seen highs of 15C over December.

However, he said January could see a drop in temperatures.

One victim of the warm weather has been the ice rink at Somerset House in London, which will now be closed on New Year’s Day.

A Twitter account for Somerset House said the “difficult decision” was taken “due to the effect of the ongoing warm temperatures on the quality of the ice”.

Customers will be given a full refund.

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