Britain’s first day of spring could bring the warmest temperatures of the year so far with 21C highs expected tomorrow as milder weather returns.
The mercury will start creeping up from today – with highs of 17C (63F) in London by this afternoon which would be a 19C swing after the day began at -2C (28F).
Tomorrow is the spring equinox – the first day of astronomical spring, following the start of meteorological spring on March 1 – and temperatures will hit 21C (70F).
Such a high would make tomorrow the warmest day of 2025 so far following a peak of 19.7C (67.5F) in Crosby, Merseyside, on March 9, according to the Met Office.
And the UK would be hotter tomorrow than Ibiza, where 18C is forecast, as well as Corfu, Rome and Lisbon (all 16C), Barcelona and Nice (both 15C) and Athens (12C).
It comes after the coldest night of March so far last night, with a low of -8.3C (17.1F) in Scotland at Braemar, Aberdeenshire and -6.8C (19.8F) in England at Shap, Cumbia.
The country has already had cold nights this week, with lows of -7.8C (18C) yesterday in Aboyne, Aberdeenshire; and -6.6C (20.1F) at Altnaharra in Sutherland on Monday.
Daytime highs this week meanwhile have got up to 14.4C (57.9F) at Otterbourne in Hampshire yesterday and 12.1C (53.8F) at Achnagart in the Highlands on Monday.
Temperatures are expected to rise today and tomorrow, with maximums shown in these maps
People enjoy the spring sunshine at St James’s Park in London yesterday as temperatures rise
Swans on the River Thames on a cold but beautiful sunny day in Windsor, Berkshire, yesterday
But the temperature is expected to begin rising from today, with a high of 17C in London and the South East, a marked difference from the temperatures at the beginning of the week.
Warmer temperatures are also expected to come with dry and sunny weather for most of the UK.
Marco Petagna, a meteorologist at the Met Office, said: ‘Temperatures already just started to pick up in places, but the trend to warmer temperatures is going to continue for the next few days now.
‘So Wednesday, lots of sunshine around parts of southern England and Wales.
‘We’ll see some clouds developing, particularly towards the south west of England, but for most places, you have plenty of sunshine, and we’re drawing up warmer air now from the South and South East.’
The rest of the UK is more likely to see highs of 12C to 15C today, Mr Petagna said.
Highs of 16C are expected in Cardiff, 12C in Belfast and 11C in Glasgow.
He added: ‘And then for Thursday, probably the peak of the warmth, and a lot of fine weather around.
‘Again, little bits of medium upper cloud around taking turns with the sunshine, a little bit hazy in places. But for most places, it will be a lovely day, a dry day with a good deal of sunshine.
‘It’s going to be touch and go but potentially Thursday could be the warmest day of the year.’
While London could get up to 21C tomorrow, Cardiff is set to reach 17C, Glasgow 15C and Belfast 14C.
Temperatures will begin slipping from Friday, although there will still be highs of 19C in the South East.
Saturday will get up to 18C but some rainy weather will move in over the weekend.
Mr Petagna said: ‘Temperatures are coming down from Friday onwards, and also some rain pushing in from the South and West.
‘For the weekend, we’re looking at sort of 15C or 16C as a high on Saturday, and about 13C by Sunday.’
