It may not feel like it for many in the country, but the UK is on course to have its sunniest winter in almost a century.

Statistics released by the Met Office show that by 25 February Britain will have already seen 189 hours of sunshine – equal to the 2001 record but with three more days left to the end of the meteorological winter.

Forecasters are predicting we should exceed the previous limit by seven hours.

However, although the UK overall has enjoyed one of the sunniest periods since records in 1929, parts of the country have had their wettest winters in years.

Scotland has shivered through one of the wettest winters since 1910, but southern, eastern and north-east areas of England have been drier than average.

A Met Office spokesperson told The Independent that the sunnier weather could not be taken as part of a broader change.

UK winter weather Show all 30 1 /30 UK winter weather UK winter weather UK winter weather Cars make their way through the snow in the Loxley area of Sheffield UK winter weather UK winter weather A cyclist makes his way through a blizzard in Durham UK winter weather UK winter weather Heavy snow falls on the A690 into Durham UK winter weather UK winter weather Picture of snow taken through a window of a plane stuck at Manchester Airport UK winter weather UK winter weather A woman walks in heavy snow in the Loxley area of Sheffield UK winter weather UK winter weather Heavy snow in the Loxley area of Sheffield UK winter weather UK winter weather A snow covered Durham Cathedral UK winter weather UK winter weather Snow covered graves at St Joseph's Church in west Belfast, as an orange weather alert is announced in Northern Ireland UK winter weather UK winter weather Sheep in snow, in the Glens of Antrim, as an orange weather alert is announced in Northern Ireland UK winter weather UK winter weather Snow Blizzards on the A9 road near Blackford, Perthshire as snow blizzards sweep across the country UK winter weather UK winter weather A cyclist on Dumbarton Road in Stirling during a snow blizzard UK winter weather UK winter weather A dog walker walks through the Kings Knot area below Stirling Castle during a snow blizzard UK winter weather UK winter weather Vehicles driving down Dumbarton Road in Stirling during a snow blizzard UK winter weather UK winter weather Scotrail train travels through snow covered country side near Lenzie, Scotland Rex Features UK winter weather UK winter weather A man digs his car out of the snow near Shaw, northern England UK winter weather UK winter weather A dog walker in the snow on the Pennine hilltops near Reeth in the Yorkshire Dales, as many parts of the UK were on snow alert with wintry showers threatening to disrupt travel John Giles/PA Wire UK winter weather UK winter weather A snow plough on the A93 near Guildtown, as snow brings fresh disruption to parts of the UK Danny Lawson/PA Wire UK winter weather UK winter weather Andrew Millington (left) and Stephen Peacock walk near the Spittal of Glenshee as snow brings fresh disruption to parts of the UK Danny Lawson/PA Wire UK winter weather UK winter weather Snow covers the A68 near Corbridge in Northumberland, as many parts of the UK were on snow alert with wintry showers threatening to disrupt travel Owen Humphreys/PA Wire UK winter weather UK winter weather A car makes its way through snowfall in Gortin near Omagh, as many parts of the UK were on snow alert with wintry showers threatening to disrupt travel Niall Carson/PA Wire UK winter weather UK winter weather Sleaford Lincolnshire in the snow Boxing Day 2014 Mark Suffield UK winter weather UK winter weather Snow at Liverpool's John Lennon Airport, which closed temporarily on Friday night @dazza1405/PA Wire UK winter weather UK winter weather Maisy Byrne, aged nine, (left) and sister Lulu Byrne, aged seven, have fun as snow falls on Boxing Day in Gateacre, Liverpool Peter Byrne/PA Wire UK winter weather UK winter weather A decorative snowman surrounded by real snow outside a house in Eccleston Park, near Prescot, Merseyside PA UK winter weather UK winter weather Maisy Byrne, 9, left, and sister Lulu Byrne, 7, have fun as snow falls in Gateacre, Liverpool PA UK winter weather UK winter weather Snowfall in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire on Boxing Day PA UK winter weather UK winter weather A man pushing a motorcycle through snow in Newtown Linford, Leicestershire on Boxing Day Reuters UK winter weather UK winter weather On the M6 near Sandbach Leonie Raby UK winter weather UK winter weather Snow swirling around the grounds of Lichfield Cathedral on Boxing Day Andrew Fox UK winter weather UK winter weather Referee Mark Clattenburg during the Premier League football match between Manchester City and West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns in the Midlands Reuters

“What you have to remember is that records have got better and have been kept better, so you wouldn’t have enough evidence to say that it this a completely stand-out winter.

“We are also talking about a relatively small period of time,” they added.