Easter Sunday could be warmest day of year so far - with 25C 'mini-heatwave' on the way later this month
7 April 2023, 10:31 | Updated: 7 April 2023, 11:25
Easter Sunday could prove to be the hottest day of the year so far, with highs of 18C expected in some parts of the UK.
Easter weekend will be "fine and relatively nice...with some sunshine", according to the Met Office.
Warm sunshine on Friday could bring highs of up to 18C in in the south of England, including London, and 15C in Cardiff.
"Bright or sunny spells will make it feel very pleasant indeed, with temperatures potentially reaching 18C across parts of the Midlands into Wales and the South East," Met Office meteorologist Aidan McGivern said.
Meanwhile, Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan said Sunday could be the hottest day of the year so far.
"It's probably going to be Sunday if we see the warmest day of the year so far, so currently the highest temperature recorded in 2023 is 17.8C and that was on March 30 in Suffolk.
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"So we'll probably see temperatures peaking at around 18C or so on Easter Sunday," Mr Morgan said.
The weather is unlikely to remain warm and sunny heading into next week, with rain expected on Monday.
But rising temperatures across Easter weekend will not be the last time the UK sees warm and sunny weather this month, with a mini-heatwave expected around mid-April.
Jim Dale, a senior meteorologist at British Weather Services, said the UK could see temperatures start to rise once again from around April 15.
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He told the Express: "We do get heatwaves in April, it does happen. It'll be a soft heatwave for the second half of April, it could get somewhere in the mid-20s pushing to May, in that general direction.
"I can't be overly detailed at the moment, but the signs are there for this kind of change - it's when you see the charts going in that direction.
"The only thing we have to work with is unpredictability - but it is certainly going that way at the moment."
