A RECORD-BREAKING temperature of 16.3C was recorded in northern Scotland in the early hours of Sunday.
A Met Office observation post in Cassley, Sutherland, caught the spike at 3am – the highest on record for December 29, 30 or 31 in the UK.
The average temperature for that area in December is zero degrees at night.
Meteorologists put the record down to a weather process called the Foehn effect.
Describing it as "pretty exceptional", Met Office meteorologist Alex Burkill said: "We have never recorded a temperature that high this late in the month. What makes it more unusual was the temperature came at 3am."
It was still short of the overall record for December, however, which stands at 18.3C recorded on December 2, 1948, in Achnashellach in the Highlands.
In the UK, the most notable Foehn events tend to occur across the Highlands where the moist prevailing westerly winds encounter high ground along Scotland's west coast.
This results in a marked contrast in weather conditions across the country with the west being subjected to wet weather, while the lower lying east enjoys the warmth and sunshine of the Foehn effect.
Overnight on Saturday into Sunday, mild air from Africa pushed across the UK. As the air travelled from the south west over the UK, it rose up and lost its moisture. This meant that the other side of the hills ended up with drier air.
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