Britain is set for its dullest December since 1956, with just 26.6 hours of sunshine across the country so far this month.
Figures from the Met Office showed that on only three occasions since 1920 had there been less sunshine for the whole of December. The worst year on record was 1956, which had just 19.5 hours of sunlight.
Craig Snell, a forecaster at the Met Office, said on Wednesday that this December was on course to be one of the dreariest ever.
"If things don't change, then it will probably be up there as possibly one of the top 10 dullest Decembers across the UK. We've only got two more days to go," Mr Snell said.
The sunniest festive month in the past 100 years was 2001, when December had 64 hours of sunshine. This December's figure so far is around 14.3 hours fewer than would have been expected.
Record-breaking temperatures for New Year's Eve
Despite the lack of sunshine, parts of the country are expected to break temperature records for New Year’s Eve.
Mr Snell said the dull weather was linked to milder temperatures across winter generally, which are likely to be caused by global warming.
Areas of southern and eastern England including the West Country, London, Lincolnshire and parts of Scotland, could reach 59F (15C). The previous record was set in 2011 in Colwyn Bay, which reached 58.6F (14.8C).
"One of the reasons we're getting the dull weather is the fact that it's been so mild,” he said. “We're drawing in south-westerly wind from the Atlantic and it's also drawing in a lot of moisture. It keeps us warm but it also produces a lot of cloud.
"The globe is warming up, so we would expect our winters to be milder than they were.
"We always have milder spells throughout the year so we can't link every mild spell to climate change, but we can say that extremes in our weather will become more common as we continue through this century."
The cold weather is likely to return in the new year, with frost expected to creep in across parts of the UK towards the end of January.