Warm, dry and sunny weather is set to sweep through the UK with temperatures soaring just before the May Bank Holiday weekend, forecasters have claimed.
The latest weather maps show temperatures - which have been stuck below seasonal averages for weeks - reaching the 20s by May 6, with Britons across the UK set to enjoy hot sunshine on their extra day off.
Forecasts suggest that conditions could become warm across East Anglia and the South East on May 5 and 6.
Temperatures are "likely to recover to around or a little above average as the period progresses", the Met Office said.
Warm, dry and sunny weather is set to sweep through the UK with temperatures soaring just before the May Bank Holiday weekend
WXCharts
The forecaster added: "Also worth noting that average temperatures themselves rise by around 1C per week at this time of year."
High pressure is set to to arrive and sit over the UK in a "blocking pattern" by the end of the first week of May.
The warm blast follows mild temperatures and heavy downpours earlier this week.
The Met Office's forecast for May says: "In the first part of this period, many areas of the UK are expected to see periods of rain or showers.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
High pressure is set to to arrive and sit over the UK
"Some of these showers will be heavy and thundery, with the greatest chance of thunderstorms in the southeast.
"Along with this will be a fair amount of low cloud in the east at times, with spells of coastal fog, but also temperatures generally above average for the time of year.
"Overall, northwestern parts of the UK are likely to be driest and sunniest.
"Through the second week, temperatures will return closer to normal, perhaps dipping back below average, but it will also tend to turn gradually drier and more settled, with changeable conditions most likely to hang on longest in the south and southeast."
Those in southern England and Wales are expecting warmer temperatures than those in Northern Ireland, Scotland and northern England.
"By the bank holiday weekend the winds will be turning into the South West bringing us much warmer air from the Azores as High pressure ridges in from the South West," weather expert, Phil Morrish told The Express.
"The temperature will reach 19C in the South and 17C in the Midlands and even 15c in the North and in Scotland so a warmer and mainly dry bank holiday is in prospect at the moment so there is something to look forward too."
