Britain set to sizzle over the Easter weekend

Britain is set to be engulfed by another spell of glorious barbecue weather over the Easter weekend - as forecasters predict one of the hottest Aprils on record.

Sunseekers enjoyed the hottest day of the year so far yesterday, with temperatures soaring to 25.4C in St James's Park, London - eclipsing those in Rome and Athens.

Experts predict this month's second mini-heatwave is here stay, with fine dry weather expected across the majority of the country until next week.

The south east will see highs of 25C today and temperatures will remain in the low to mid-twenties into early next week, bringing joy to millions of revellers over the bank holiday break.

The rest of the UK will also see a sustained period of dry, sunny weather, with the mercury rising to well-above the average for the time of year.

Alison Cobb, forecaster at MeteoGroup UK, the Press Association's weather division, said: "If we continue to get these temperatures then it is looking like this April is going to be very close to the record set in 2007 where the maximum average temperature was 18.9C.

"It is going to stay warm for the remainder of the week with large amounts of sunshine in most places.

"There will be the risk of isolated showers and northern and western areas could see some cloud and light rain, but on the whole it is looking very nice."

Millions basked in mini-heatwave at the start of the month, enjoying above-average temperatures that rivalled those in some Mediterranean resorts.

Millions flocked to beaches, parks and outdoor spaces, with supermarkets reporting a massive rise in sales of barbecues.

Forecaster Rebekah Sherwin, from the Met Office, said: "It is really unseasonably warm at the moment as we normally expect to see maximum temperatures of between 14-15C in April and are getting in excess of 10 degrees above that."

The lack of the traditional April showers has led to warnings that parts of the county are running out of water, with reservoirs and rivers hitting increasingly low levels.