Blast of warm air is set to break record

As November temperatures soared to an unseasonal mid-18C, weather experts were last night waiting to see if a 100-year-old record will be broken.

Checks at a weather station in Aultbea in Wester Ross, in the north-west of Scotland, revealed a remarkably mild 18.5C (65.3F) at 6am. Forecasters are now waiting to see if the station's highest temperature of the day will break the 18.7C recorded at Addington in Surrey on 16 November 1895.

The average temperature for this time of year ranges from 7C in the north of Scotland to 10-15C on the south coast of England. The mild weather is caused by a blast of warm air sweeping across the Atlantic from hotspots such as the Azores and Bermuda. Weather forecasters expect it to continue well into next week.