FAMILIES guising with their children tonight will be doing so in some of the mildest Hallowe'en temperatures for many years.

With the streets busy with people trick-or-treating, the thermometer in parts of Scotland could reach about 12ºC (56ºF), several degrees higher than is normal for the end of October.

New statistics show 2014 has been the warmest year on record, following consistently mild temperatures that have continued into autumn.

MeteoGroup forecaster Laura ­Caldwell said: "It's been fairly warm for an October in general. The whole year to date has been the warmest on record so far. It's been a remarkable year for above-average temperatures."

Nine out of the 10 months this year have seen above-average mean temperatures, with only August below average, the Met Office said.

The UK mean temperature for the month so far is 11ºC, which is 1.5ºC above average, a few degrees short of the 12.2ºC record set in 2001. Scotland has been wetter than average this month.