Last month was the second warmest October since 1922, with an average temperature of 23.5°C, the Meteorological Office said.

The average for October is 20.7°C, making last month 2.8°C warmer than the mean.

October was also the 10th driest since 1933 thanks to 21.4mm total rainfall compared to the 89.7mm average.

The warmest day of the month was the 14th when temperatures rose to 31.9°C - still short of the highest temperature ever recorded in October: 34.5°C on October 7, 1999.

Night temperatures were also 2.7°C warmer than average at a 19.8°C mean. The coolest night last month was the 24th, when the temperatures dropped to 16.5°C.

Thunder was only heard on two October days: the 8th and the 31st, well below the norm of six thundery days.

The three days of fog was more than the norm of one day but the monthly mean relative humidity of 75 per cent was three per cent less than the October norm.

The mean sea temperature was 25.2°C, which is warmer than the October mean of 22.9°C.

October had a mean 7.6 hours of bright sunshine per day, which is 0.5 hours more than the average for the month. In total, there were 236.5 hours of sunshine. The brightest day was the 2nd with 10.7 hours of sunshine, while the dullest was the 8th, with no sunshine.

The average wind speed of October was 6.5 knots against the climate mean of 7.5 knots. The highest gust was 36 knots on the 16th.