DITCH the winter warmers - Hampshire is set for one of the hottest Christmases ever.

Our dreams for a white Christmas quickly disappeared as temperatures fit for May swept the county for the mildest December on record.

The mild climes have melted Christmas ice rinks, caused winter plants to bloom and prevented shrubs from dropping their autumn leaves.

Forecasters say Southampton could see temperatures of around 12C (53.6F) next week - more than twice as hot as last Christmas in Hampshire, where average temperatures were just 5.6C (42F).

And while some have still been betting on seeing snow on Christmas day, forecasters say it is likely to be the warmest December 25 we have ever had with the mercury rising to double the normal temperature for this time of year.

The unseasonal weather has seen the team work around the clock to keep the ice rink at Winchester Cathedral as frozen as possible.

Skaters have been gliding across a layer of water sitting on the surface of the ice as rink bosses battle the warm climes.

Simon Barwood from the Cathedral said: "We keep freezing it as much as we possibly can. It's been a challenge. We're lucky enough that it's not caused us too much of a problem in that we have kept all bookings."

Gardeners have also been working hard to protect plants as there has been no cold snap to kill pests and diseases.

Steve Austin from Hillier Nurseries said: “The warm weather is having a definite effect on several varieties at Hillier Nurseries.

"Hellebores - the orientalis varieties - are in full flower bud already, which is something that you wouldn’t expect to see until January-February time.

"At the same time, many herbaceous perennials have yet to drop their leaves because of the warm weather and there has been no cold snap to kill off pests and diseases, which means we are having to be particularly vigilant in our plant health regime.”

It has been the warmest December so far for the south for more than 50 years, according to figures for December 1-14, with average temperatures of 10C (50F).

The UK as a whole has also had the fourth warmest December with temperatures rising 3.2C above the average for this time of year.

It has seen the odds for Southampton getting a white Christmas plummet to 7/1 according to bookies.

Jessica Bridge of Ladbrokes said: "The odds of a White Christmas occurring are drifting like a barge and it looks like we'll be swapping snowmen for sunglasses on December 25th."

It comes as the Met Office predict 2016 to be the hottest year globally since records began in 1910.

A Met Office spokesman said: "Next year does look to be one of the warmest years, if not the warmest year. The global temperature for next year is based on a range of indicators from man made pollution to flow systems like El Nino. It's a system in the Pacific.

"Normally the currents go one way but we now have currents going across towards South America we would expect the affects of El Nino to be delayed here but it does have an impact on global weather."