WORCESTERSHIRE bathed in more than its fair share of the sun this winter, with weather experts recording the highest levels of sunshine in recent years.

Frank Hill, a local weather expert, recorded 246 hours of sunshine over Malvern this winter, with the previous record being 258 hours in the winter of 1932/33.

According to Mr Hill, this year's figures recorded 63 more hours of sunshine than usual — the highest in recent years.

He said: "The recent winter was slightly milder than normal, although February was colder.

"It was most notable for the lack of significant snow on low ground, and even the tops of the Malvern Hills had only a few falls of merely an inch or two."

The unusual amount of sunshine seen here in Worcestershire is in line with the rest of the country.

The Met Office announced this weekend that this winter is likely to have been the sunniest in records dating back nearly 90 years for the UK, seeing fairly average temperatures and rainfall — unlike last winter which was the wettest on record.

By February 25, with three days left to go of the meteorological winter, the UK had already seen 189 hours of sunshine, equalling the previous record year in 2001.

Unlike last year's wet and stormy winter, the season this year has recorded just eight per cent more rainfall than the long term average, with 375 mm of rain across the UK, with the southern, eastern and north eastern areas of England drier than usual.

But in Scotland the winter has been one of the top 10 wettest in records dating back to 1910, the Met Office said.

Early figures for February from the Met Office suggest the month was drier than average and likely to be slightly cooler than average.

In a statement the Met Office said: "The month showed the variety of winter weather we can get in the UK — the first half of the month being dominated by high pressure, bringing mostly dry and settled and cold weather, while the second half of the month was more unsettled with westerly winds bringing Atlantic frontal systems."