This New Year’s Eve could be the mildest on record with temperatures as high as 15C, the Met Office has said. The prediction comes after parts of the UK had a white Christmas, with snowfall in Yorkshire and Scotland. Low pressure systems moving across the Atlantic were driving the change, bringing in milder air and wet weather, the Met Office said. Forecasters had said the previous New Year’s Eve record of 14.8C (58.6F) in 2011 could be matched or even surpassed in parts of the UK. Met Office meteorologist Greg Dewhurst said: “The record is 14.8C on New Year’s Eve and that was in 2011, temperatures look like they’ll be 14C to 15C (57.2F-59F) so it is possible that temperatures could be that value,” he said. Dewhurst said the weather throughout the week will be “on the mild side”. “We’re going to see across the whole of the country, through the rest of this week, temperatures that are above average for this time of year,” Dewhurst said. “The average temperature in the UK around this time of year should be around 7C-8C (44.6F-46.4F). “Going forward, we’re looking at highs of around 12C-14C (53.6-57.2F), possibly locally 15C in one or two spots, so it’s going to be well above average.” “It isn’t going to be blue skies all week,” Dewhurst added. “There’s going to be cloud at times as well as strong winds and heavy rain, particularly across the north and the west of the UK.” He said there were no weather warnings in place, but parts of the UK would be hit by gale force winds later in the week. “Gales are possible at times in the south and the west as we move through the week,” he said.