Northern Ireland weather: Warm November set to last another week in bonus time for gardeners - temperatures up to 6°C higher than average

Forecasters say the balmy conditions, caused by a combination of the Atlantic jet-stream and high pressure over northern Europe, will continue for another seven days – and Northern Ireland can even expect some sunshine next week.

Gloomy clouds that have shrouded the province are expected to break into blue skies on Monday, says the Met Office, though as a result there might be some frost late at night.

And while temperatures will likely dip a little over the course of the week, they’ll only be down by one or two degrees, still well above the province’s average for this time of year.

The balmy weather has seen Northern Ireland’s gardeners in bloom, as they’ve been given extra time to get their green fingers working.

As Robin Mercer, owner of Hillmount Garden Centre in the Castlereagh hills, points out, the weather is so warm that people don’t even need overcoats when getting to work – though they need to be diligent in their weeding.

"Normally gardeners would’ve gone into hibernation by now,” he says, "but instead it’s like it’s much earlier in the year.

“They’re still planting, grass keeps growing so they’re still out cutting it. We’re even still selling weed-killer and green slime treatment, because the past weeks have been ideal conditions for them to grow; normally there would be no demand.

"If you look around, you’ll still see roses and geraniums in bloom. In an average year, people would be wrapping their winter protection around flowers they’re worried about by now.

"It’s been great for gardeners; we had a bad April and May and the summer wasn’t great either, so this has been like a nice bonus.”

But he admits there’s one downside to entering the festive season with temperatures more like early autumn.

“We’re trying to sell Christmas decorations and lights, but no one’s buying,” he laughs. “People have no interest, not in this weather – I keep trying to tell them, Christmas is coming sooner than you think, you don’t want it to take you by surprise.”

Over the past few days, one of the highest temperatures recorded at in Northern Ireland on was in Thomastown, County Fermanagh, which maxed out the mercury at 17.9°C.

But that’s still not a record for November, as the hottest it’s ever been here during the month is a thermometer-busting 18.5°C.

That happened in County Down in 1979, 2007 and 2015.

Rain and shine have been in short supply this month, both of them coming it at just 2% of their usual amount over November.

The Met Office says that the unseasonable weather is due to high pressure in the Atlantic affecting the gulf jet-stream, pushing heat onto the north-west of the UK.

The result is that both Northern Ireland and Scotland have been comparatively baking, despite the lack of sun, while England and Wales are only slightly higher than their usual average temperatures for this time of year.

Forecasters are unsure how long it will last and there may be some drizzly rain on Sunday, but the balmy weather is confidently predicted to last until at least the end of next week.