Weather experts have revealed that 2014 was the warmest year on record in Hampshire and other parts of the south.
Central southern England basked in the highest temperatures seen since 1659, when detailed statistics were compiled for the first time.
The national mean temperature for the year was 9.9°C, 1.1°C above the long-term average and beat the previous record of 9.7°C set in 2006.
But the south was even warmer according to the Central England Temperature (CET) series, which has been recording the highs and lows for more than 400 years.
A Met Office spokesman said: “It was marginally the warmest year on record in the series, with a mean temperature of 10.93°C, narrowly ahead of the previous record of 10.87° set in 2006.”
The spokesman said it was also the hottest year on record in all other parts of the UK, apart from Northern Ireland.
He added: “Each month was consistently warm, with only August seeing below average temperatures.”
The record means that eight of the UK's top ten warmest years have all occurred since 2002.
Today's weather for Southampton:
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