WHILE many of us may be hoping for a white Christmas, new figures from the Met Office have shown that this year in Oxfordshire looks set to be the warmest on record.

But as people in the county are enjoying the milder weather, experts have warned climate change is to blame for the high temperatures.

Early figures for 2006, released by the Met Office and the University of East Anglia, showed this year was the warmest on record in the UK.

A Met Office spokesman said: "Looking at Oxfordshire, we have had two months that have been record breakers, we had the warmest July and the warmest September.

"We have put the temperatures down to human influences on the climate.

"To stop it being a record-breaking year we would need a big change in the weather which seems unlikely."

In 2002, Oxfordshire was at its hottest since records began in 1914 at an average of 10.72C.

The coldest year was in 1963 when the Met Office recorded a mean temperature of just 8.13C.

But the warm weather in Oxfordshire has meant Thames Water has not lifted its hosepipe and sprinkler ban.

A spokesman said the last three months had been wet, which was "great news".

He said: "It is good because during the autumn and winter time, rain has a chance to go into the ground water reserves which feed our reservoirs, but they are still depleted after nearly two years of drought.

"We are still asking people to save water."

Met Office climate scientist David Parker said: "2006 has been quite extraordinary in terms of the UK temperature, with several records being broken."