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Is 2006 on course to be our warmest year ever?
Last updated at 17:37pm on 30.10.06
Soaring temperatures in October have seen Brits soaking up the sun on beaches across the country
As children splashed in the sea on the day the clocks went back, experts predicted that 2006 could turn out to be our hottest year ever.
Just eight weeks before Christmas, deckchairs lined Bournemouth beach and families basked in the sun.
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Last night meteorologists said the endless Indian summer was putting Britain on course for a record.
May to September was the longest continuous period of hot weather experienced in Britain since records began in 1659.
The average temperature during the five-month spell was 61.2f (16.2c), two degrees higher than the norm. The previous record of 60.6f (15.9c) was set in 1947. And September was the hottest on record with an average tempterature of 59.7f (15.4c). The old record of 58.4f (14.7c) was set in 1949.
July was the warmest month ever recorded with a daily average temperature of 64f (17.8c), breaking the previous record of 63.2f (17.3c) set jointly in July 1983 and August 1995.
And even a miserable August - one of the wettest in recent years with 3.7 inches of rain - has not threatened the impending record.
Met Office figures show that while October was one of the hottest, it was not the warmest on record.
Despite the average for this time of year being just over 55f (13c), a maximum temperature of 70f (21c) was recorded twice, in Torquay on October 2 and then in Pershore, Worcestershire.
However the Met Office has also warned that November will mean a change in the weather, with cold temperatures sweeping across the whole country.
From Wednesday, temperatures at night are expected to fall below freezing in many areas and as low as minus 4C in some rural locations.
A MeteoGroup spokesman said people will feel the chill when they get out of bed on Wednesday morning.
He said: "It will start to get colder and the wind will swing into the north with the first widespread frosts.
"Wednesday night looks pretty chilly and it's a bit more seasonal."
Latest forecasts for the Bonfire Party weekend are mainly dry and settled.
The hottest year recorded in the UK was in 1990, when the average temperature was 51.2f (10.7c). The hottest in the northern hemisphere was 2005.
The hottest day ever recorded in the UK was August 10 2003 when thermometers hit 101.3f (38.5c) in Faversham, Kent.
Met Office forecaster Nigel Bolton said 2006 could turn out to be the warmest ever in Britain.
"We have had consistently high average temperatures throughout 2006," he said.
"We do still have two months to go and if November is a cold month - and it looks like the first few days will be quite chilly - it could offset the possibility."
He said that while October had been a scorcher, it had not been as hot as in 1978.
"During the notoriously warm autumn of 1978, October saw temperatures of 26c (79f) during the second week of the month."
Mr Bolton was not prepared to speculate on the possibility of a white Christmas.
He said: "The latest scenario we are predicting is a fairly average winter for the UK, but this can mean several things and there is no indication whether it will be predominantly mild or cold."
13°c
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