The Met Office has explained why weather is currently so mild in Northern Ireland for November - with many people still managing without coats or central heating.

In recent days, the highest temperatures in Northern Ireland have ranged between 13.2C to 14.6C.

Met Office spokeswoman Nicola Maxey told the News Letter this is 2-4C above the average 10C for this time of year for Northern Ireland.

But even this is nowhere close to the record temperature for November of 18.5C.

"High pressure has been dominating our weather for the last 10 days or so and this has resulted in the cloudy, settled and mild conditions for most," she explained.

So far this month the following are highest temperatures recorded;-

:: 1st November - 14.6C at Magilligan, :: 2nd November – 12.2C at Malin Head, Magilligan, and Killowen :: 3rd November – 13.2C at Killowen

She noted that the highest daily maximum temperature recorded in Northern Ireland ever for November was 18.5C at Murlough in County Down, in November 1979, 2007 and again in 2015.

placeholder image — The Jet Stream - marked here as a broken yellow line - moved north of the UK in recent days, allowing tropical air from the south to sweep over the UK, resulting in unusually mild weather for November. Image: The Met Office.

The Met Office explained that the unseasonably warm weather this month has been caused by unusual movements by the Jet Stream - the fast-flowing current of air that travels around the earth which occurs when warmer air from the south meets cooler air from the north.

When the jet stream is below the UK this means colder air from the north dominates over the UK - giving low pressure, and colder wetter weather.

But when the jet stream moves further north of the UK, warmer air from the south dominates over the UK and - giving warmer weather from tropical winds.

What happened in recent days was that the remains of Hurricane Oscar pushed the Jet Stream further north. Part of it was then cut off from the main stream and formed a stand alone vortex over northern Europe. This vortex then split the Jet Stream in two, with part deflected north of the UK, allowing warmer tropical air to dominate the UK. (A further part was also deflected south).

The result was that The Met office forecast last week advised people heading out for Bonfire Night to leave their hats and gloves at home due to the mild temperatures expected.