Temperatures on New Year’s Day could break records as Britain is set to see highs of 15C (59F).

The new year will get off to a warm start following on from a mild December and a record-breaking New Year’s Eve.

Friday saw temperatures reaching 15.8C in Merryfield in Somerset and Nantwich in Cheshire, which beat the previous record of 14.8C.

Forecasters at the Met Office said temperatures may reach record highs on New Year’s Day.

The previous record temperature on New Year’s Day stands at 15.6C.

The Met Office is expecting highs of 14C or 15C.

Forecaster Craig Snell told PA news agency: “It’s not out of the realms of possibility.

“It is the first time since December 2016 that we have had three consecutive days reach 15C. It has been a prolonged mild spell.

“It may break records tomorrow (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.

“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.

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.

On Friday, Somerset House in London confirmed it would be closing its ice rink on New Year’s Day due to warmer temperatures.

A spokesperson for Somerset House tweeted: “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.

“We are currently dealing with very high level of customer enquiries so it may take us longer than usual to respond. We are very sorry for this inconvenience and are working hard to ensure we can re-open asap. We will update asap if there is any further impact on future dates.”