England enjoyed its sunniest January on record, with the UK as a whole basking in the sunniest January in more than 20 years.

The Met Office said England saw an average 80.7 hours of sunshine in January, putting it at the top of a series that dates back to 1919.

The UK saw an average of 62.7 hours of sunshine in the month, which makes it the sunniest January since 2001 and the third sunniest overall.

Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland also had above-average sunshine hours in the month, but not enough to break any records.

Wales had an average of 55.1 hours of sunshine (17% above average), Scotland 38.1 hours (8% above average) and Northern Ireland 43.4 hours (2% above average).

January started with the warmest New Year’s Day on record for the UK, with 16.3C recorded at St James’s Park in London.

Scotland and Wales also broke their New Year’s Day record high temperatures, as 15.9C was reported at Achnagart in Scotland and 15.6C at Hawarden in Wales.

The mild weather continued for much of the month, but with some cool night-time temperatures in the South.

It was an especially mild January for Scotland, with a mean temperature of 4.7C making it the country’s sixth warmest January on record and 1.8C above the long-term average.

January has also seen less than half the average rainfall for the month for the UK.

An average of 61.3mm of rain fell, which is below the average of 121.5mm.

Scotland was the only country to report more than 50% of its average rainfall, but its figure of 110.2mm was still only 62% of its average.

Dr Mark McCarthy of the National Climate Information Centre said: “January has been a dry and sunny month.

“It has been notably mild for Scotland but a fair share of frosty mornings across much of England.

“High pressure has had a big influence over the UK’s weather this month, with a persistent area of high pressure in the south dominating the picture from mid-month and resulting in a relatively dry month.

“The exception to this for the UK was the late influence of Storms Malik and Corrie in the last weekend of January, bringing rain and disruptive winds to many in the north.”