The UK is set to enjoy the warmest weather of the year so far after a bleak bank holiday, as temperatures are expected to hit highs of 25C this weekend.

Forecasters predict temperatures will continue to rise in England and Wales this week, with any rain only expected to be brief and isolated.

By the weekend, parts of the south could see the hottest day of the year, beating the current highest of 23.4C, recorded in Santon Downham in Suffolk last Thursday.

Conditions in Scotland and Northern Ireland are also expected to improve throughout the week, with highs of 22C forecast in Glasgow on Saturday.

Forecasters have urged people to take care amid rising UV levels across the UK this week, as well as an increasing pollen count.

The warmer weather is not likely to last long, however, with temperatures expected to fall next week as the high pressure covering the country moves on and is replaced by low pressure.

According to the Met Office’s long-range forecast, conditions are expected to turn more changeable, with rainfall likely to be above average in most areas.

Temperatures are predicted to return back closer to normal for May.

Hottest April on record

A record streak for the hottest temperatures has continued for the 11th month in a row, with April 2024 being the hottest month ever recorded by scientists.

Data from the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service C3S shows that April 2024 was hotter than any previously recorded April.

Records for this date back to 1940 with last month thought to be 1.58C warmer than the estimated average for pre-industrial levels.

This comes as the global average temperature for the last 12 months (May 2023 to April 2024) was also registered as the highest on record.

Over this period, the temperature was 1.61C above the 1850-1900 period which is used as a benchmark for industrial levels.

It also found that Europe was the fastest-warming continent on Earth with temperatures being 1.49C above the 1990-2020 average for April.