'Month of rain' set to drench Brits in just two days next week after 'hottest day of 2023' on Easter Sunday
8 April 2023, 12:11
Easter Sunday is likely to be the warmest day of the year so far - but Brits have been warned that a month of rain is set to fall in just two days afterwards.
Parts of the UK are likely to be hotter than Athens, Rome and the south of France, as the mercury possibly reaches 18C on Sunday.
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.
"So we'll probably see temperatures peaking at around 18C or so on Easter Sunday," Mr Morgan said.
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The weather is unlikely to remain warm and sunny heading into next week, with a lot of rainfall expected on Monday and Tuesday.
David Oliver, a Met Office Deputy Chief forecaster, said: "Similar conditions are likely for much of the UK on Easter Saturday, but during the second half of the Easter weekend the Atlantic will increasingly exert its influence.
"A frontal system is expected to move in from the west and displace the high pressure lying across the UK.
"This will spread rain across all areas during the latter part of Easter Sunday and through Easter Monday, although there is some uncertainty regarding its exact timing.
"Once the rain clears blustery showers are likely to follow in its wake across many areas."
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."
