SCOTLAND was warmer than the Mediterranean over Christmas despite much of the country suffering from torrential rain.
The tropical air from the Azores saw the country 10˚C milder than the average for the festive season, with the thermostat nudging 15˚C in some parts of the country on Christmas Eve.
A high of 15.1˚C was reached at Kinlochewe, Wester Ross, which is 10˚C above the average for December, on Christmas Eve.
However, the brief respite from the recent freeze is not predicted to last long and today will drop to around 3˚C-4˚C during the day, with the Met Office issuing “yellow warnings” for snow and ice.
Motorists will have to take care not to be caught out with many areas still suffering from tricky conditions after roads were flooded by the torrential rain on Christmas Eve.
Meanwhile, analysis suggested the overall UK average will be 9.73˚C, which means the country will be the warmest over the past 11 years with the exception of 2003 and 2006.
The highest temperature in Scotland in 2017 was 29.4˚C .
Brian Glaze of forecasting service, The Weather Outlook, said the thermostat rising to 14˚C or 15˚C in late December is remarkably mild. For example, the temperature on Christmas Eve in Naples, Italy, was only 12˚C.
Tropical air arrived from 2,000 south of the Azores islands in the mid-Atlantic.
Once the final temperatures are known, the temperature could push towards 15.6˚C for the Christmas Day record, in Edinburgh in 1896, although it was unlikely to surpass it. leading bookmakers to cut the odds on it being the warmest Christmas.
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