The UK is set to enjoy more warm and sunny weather this weekend as temperatures could rise up to 20C, before colder and wetter conditions return next week.

Temperatures rose above the average this afternoon, with the mercury hitting 19C in London, Yorkshire and Birmingham.

Met Office meteorologist Alex Deakin said the highs are expected to continue over the next few days as this weekend could be “one of the sunniest” of the year so far.

He said: “It may well be the shortest weekend of the year, because the clocks go forward, but it will be one of the sunniest.

“It’s going to be blue skies almost across the board on both Saturday and Sunday thanks to a chunky area of high pressure that’s just wobbling around across the UK.”

Mr Deakin added there may be some mist and fog on Saturday morning, however it will soon turn into a “fine spring day” with “plenty of sunshine”.

We’ve been lucky enough to enjoy some wonderful, warm spring sunshine thanks to a high pressure system over Scandinavia.

That has blocked the Atlantic rain belts that would have given us the “March winds, April showers” typical of the British weather at this time of year.

Instead, the wet weather has been forced around the high pressure – either to the North or the South.

Spain and Portugal have suffered low temperatures and rainfall instead of us!

But all good things come to an end, and over the next few days – without any dramatic changes – we’ll see temperatures taking a downward trend to values closer to average for the time of year. And it is only March!

So by Tuesday, we’ll be seeing daytime highs almost 10 degrees less than we’ll see over the weekend.

And as colder air spreads in from the North, it appears we haven’t seen a last gasp attempt at winter.

There’s certainly the potential for some wintry showers in the coming days but, with such a swift and dramatic transition, it’s not easy to pin down the day-to-day details at this range.

He said: “A bit of a breeze blowing across southern England but not as windy as last weekend.

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“And temperatures responding to the sunshine, getting up – just like they have done all week – into the mid or even high teens in places.”

When clocks go forward one hour at 1am on Sunday, more sunny weather will welcome in British Summer Time.

Mr Deakin said: “For most places it’s another fine day with plenty of sunshine and temperatures again widely 15 to 18C, maybe 19 or 20 in one or two locations.”

However, a cold air mass pushing in on Tuesday is forecast to bring unsettled and wet conditions and lower temperatures from the middle of the week.

Temperatures to drop ‘below freezing’

The Met Office added wintry showers are also possible across the country, especially in the North and East.

Chief meteorologist Paul Gundersen said: “Although the UK has had a good deal of fine and settled March weather in recent days, a change is on the way from the middle of next week with colder air spreading down from the north and the increasing likelihood of rain for most areas.

“On the hills in the north, there’s a chance of this falling as snow, although we’ll gain more certainty on that in the coming days.

“With the influence of some unsettled weather, we’ll be seeing a marked drop in temperatures for most with colder air arriving from the North.

“This will see maximum temperatures drop into single figures for many areas, and below freezing overnight.”

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