Make plans for the beach or park this weekend – temperatures in Britain will reach 27C.
The burst of spring warmth is attributed to a ‘Spanish plume’ moving in from the Mediterranean.
The phenomenon, a wedge of hot air, happens when a gap between high pressure over northern Europe and low pressure over the Atlantic sucks the warm air up from Spain and North Africa.
With perfect timing, this particular plume is set to arrive on Friday, staying until Sunday.
The South East will experience the best of the good weather, with temperatures in East Anglia and London pushing near the hottest mark of 2011 – the 82F (27.8C) recorded in Wisley, Surrey, on Easter Saturday.
However, the warmth will begin a shift from the recent sunshine and dry conditions and introduce a period of wetter, more unsettled weather for the coming week, experts predicted.
Met Office spokesman Barry Gromett told the Daily Telegraph: “It’s quite possible that temperatures will rise into the upper 20s on Saturday, maybe up to 27C.
“The downside is that it will soon begin to feel quite humid, with quite a lot of cloud around.
“There will also be showers and thunderstorms in most places, especially during the course of Sunday.
April saw an average temperature across England of 53F (11.8C), making it the hottest April since records began in 1659.
Met Office data also shows it was the second driest March and April combined in more than a century with around 20 per cent of normal levels falling in England and Wales
