Britons enjoy weekend of sunshine

The Spring sunshine is set to drench the majority of the UK again today with more warm weather bringing a fine end to Britain's glorious "barbecue weekend".

Millions have basked in the early April mini-heatwave in recent days, enjoying above-average temperatures that have rivalled those in some Mediterranean resorts.

And Sunday will be no exception, with the mercury expected to reach highs of 21C and forecasters predicting more spells of warm, dry sunshine.

Billy Payne, forecaster at MeteoGroup UK, the Press Association's weather division, said: "The barbecue weather will continue today with most places being warm and dry with a good deal of sunshine.

"Temperatures will again be in the 17-20C range almost everywhere with the exception of some coastal areas."

Some cloud is forecast to break up the rays in parts of Northern Ireland and south west England during the day and some light rain is predicted in far west Scotland, but long periods of sun are still expected.

However, the mini heat-wave will start to fizzle out on Monday and it will start to turn colder as a front comes in from the north west and slowly moves south-eastwards brining rain and showers.

"Temperatures will be back to average by the end of the week and the weather will be more unsettled," weather expert Mr Payne added.

The UK has enjoyed a salubrious spell of weather over the past week thanks to a sustained area of high pressure that has seen the average April temperatures of 10-13C comprehensively eclipsed.

Almost the whole of Britain basked in sunshine yesterday, with most inland areas enjoying readings in the high teens or early twenties.

Weather experts recorded a high temperature of 22.5C in Porthmadog, north Wales, while temperatures in the holiday hotspot of Ibiza were just 20C.

Readings of 21C were recorded in the Algarve and Rome.

The fine spell of British weather has seen thousands flock to parks and outdoor spaces, with supermarkets reporting a massive rise in sales of barbecues.

Tesco said it had seen a 100% increase in the number it had sold compared to this time last year.

William Hill is offering odds of 33/1 that the hottest day of 2011 will come in April, with odds of 7/1 that temperatures will top the UK record temperature of 38.5C.