Topsy turvy weather means that spring has come four months early with this December being the warmest on record, according to latest figures from the Met Office.

Experts lined up to make the connection between the extreme weather and global warming.

And an Oxford University Professor has told people to "get used to it".

Professor Myles Allen said: "The weather has changed, and we have changed it: get used to it.

"Those with more open minds are asking, 'is this the new normal?'.

"Unfortunately, the answer is 'no' - 'normal weather', unchanged over generations apart from random fluctuations, is a thing of the past.

"When families reconvene for Christmas in the 2040s, the envelope of 'normal weather' will have shifted by as much again as it has already shifted since the 1970s."

As storms and floods continue to batter communities across northern parts of the UK, experts also revealed that it had been the second wettest December in more than 100 years.

December temperatures for the whole of the UK reached a spring-like 8C, which is 4.1C above the long-term average. The previous record was 6.9C, set in 1934.

The Met Office said: "This means the temperatures this December 2015 were closer to those normally experienced during April or May."