With the winter months behind us, the Met Office has released provisional figures showing the mean temperature during December, January and February was a balmy 5.47°C – 1.8°C above average.

The warmest winter since the digitised series covering the whole of the UK began in 1914, was 1989-90, with an average temperature of 5.82°C.

For full historical context, the Central England Temperature (CET) series – based on temperatures taken within an approximate triangle bounded by London, Bristol and Manchester – is used. Its records, which stretch back to 1659, show the average temp this winter to have been 6.4°C (as it excludes the more northerly parts of the UK), making it the fourth warmest on record, with the warmest ever being 1868-69 at an average of 6.77°C.

Rainfall figures show most areas of the UK to have been very wet and the winter months have also been sunnier than average.