The worst of the winter weather has passed but Britain can expect a cold and damp start to 2011, the Met Office has warned.
The weather is no longer being influenced by freezing Arctic patterns and air is now moving into Britain from the Atlantic but the mercury will fall again in the first days of January.
Some areas paralysed by heavy snow before Christmas are likely to be basking in relatively balmy temperatures of up to 12c (54f) today.
A gloomy New Year: The Royal Albert bridge over the Tamar in Plymouth appears through the fog this morning
Covered capital: Boats pass under Waterloo bridge during a foggy day in London
But after mild conditions over the next few days, the weather will turn colder again next week, with temperatures expected to be below the 3.4C (38F) average.
Forecasters have also warned there will be fog in many areas of the country because of moisture in the air and there are fears that these ‘quick melt’ conditions, combined with heavy rain, could lead to flooding in parts of Devon.
But the Environment Agency believes the risk of flooding in most areas is ‘very low’.
Unless there is an unexpected change, New Year celebrations should go ahead smoothly, without the transport nightmares that brought much of the country to a standstill in recent weeks.
Misty misery: Thick fog descends on Bournemouth seafront today, as walkers disappear from view on Boscombe pier
Eye of the storm: A pigeon sits on a wall near the partially shrouded by fog London Eye
Most areas will remain above freezing on Friday night, forecasters are predicting. In the North-East, which has been particularly hard hit by the Arctic conditions for the past month, temperatures will stay below average, but the ice is still expected to gradually melt away.
For the second winter running, a severe month-long big freeze has cost the economy billions and this December is expected to be the chilliest since records began 100 years ago.
So far December 2010 has been ‘over a degree colder’ than the previous record, set in 1981.
Forecaster Barry Gromett said: 'The national record goes back to 1910 and it's running by some margin the coldest December at the moment.'
He added that we were 'over a degree colder' than the previous record.
Foggy London town: The capital's most famous landmarks are almost obscured by the gloomy weather
Grim commute: London workers cross the Millennium bridge while St Paul's Cathedral rises through the fog
Foggy forecast: Met Office predictive maps indicate the gloomy conditions expected to hang over the UK
The words of Met Office weather forecaster Chris Almond will be music to most people’s ears. ‘It looks as if we are in for a quiet and benign period,’ he said, adding that there would be ‘a bit of a respite’ from snow and ice.
Mr Almond said ‘for most parts of the country’ it will fall as ‘rain or sleet’, but there are likely to be further snow falls on ‘higher ground’ in the north-east and eastern regions.
These areas could see up to two inches of snow and a severe weather warning has been issued for the north and east of England, where temperatures are unlikely to climb much above freezing until late in the week.
In the south, average temperatures for this time of year are around 6c (43f) or 7c (45f) and the warmer air could see mercury soaring to between 9c (48f) and 12c (54f) in southern England.
‘Towards the end of the week it might turn a little colder again, but nothing like we have seen recently,’ Mr Almond said.
But the thaw also brings the risk of a new form of chaos – burst pipes. Engineers were yesterday working to restore water supply to thousands of homes in Northern Ireland after the thaw caused mains pipes to burst across the province.
Sailing through the fog: A tourist boat ploughs through the grim conditions on the Thames
Rosie, a 10-year-old German Shepherd, had skidded into icy Connaught Water in Chingford, East London, and clung on to the ice as rescuers edged their way towards her
Meanwhile, airport operator BAA said it welcomed legislation that would 'improve the experience for passengers' as the Government considers new plans to fine airports millions of pounds.
Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said he wanted the air regulators to have new powers after Heathrow ground to a halt during the big freeze last week, ruining the holidays of tens of thousands of people.
A spokesman for BAA said: 'We will of course play a full part in the Government's discussions about this year's weather disruption and will make public the findings of our own independent investigation.
'We welcome legislation designed to improve the experience for passengers at the UK's airports.'
Mr Hammond told The Sunday Times it was unacceptable that BAA, which runs Britain's busiest airport, faced no punishment from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) under the current regime.
He said: 'There should be an economic penalty for service failure. Greater weight needs to be given to performance and passenger satisfaction.'
Ministers are considering a new airport economic regulation Bill, which would give more powers to impose fines for a wide range of service failures.
Under the existing system, fines can be imposed by the CAA for failures like passenger queues at security and cleanliness. The maximum total penalty is said to be 7 per cent of airport charges, resulting in a potential sum of £63million.
