Met Office warns of sunburn risk as temperatures soar to 22C across UK

Temperatures are set to peak at 22C on Thursday

The Met Office has urged Britons to protect themselves from the sun this week (PA)

The Met Office has urged Britons to put protect themselves from the sun this week, as the UK prepares to bask in temperatures as high as 22C.

The mercury is set to climb gradually this week and could peak at 22C on Thursday in the south of England, the Met Office said.

This means the UK could be enjoying sunny weather with temperatures even higher than Athens or Barcelona on Thursday, where highs of 17C and 16C are forecast respectively.

The sunny skies come with a warning however, as people across the UK are told to protect themselves from the rays when outside this week.

Met Office chief meteorologist, Paul Gundersen, said: “The UK will have a sunny start to April this week. Temperatures will slowly build, with highs of 21-22°C possible by Thursday.

The sunny skies come with a warning, as people across the UK are told to protect themselves from the rays. (PA Wire)

"Other than a small chance of some light rain grazing the far southwest of England it will be a dry week too. At this time of the year, we do start to see higher UV levels, so if you are outside enjoying the sunshine do think about protecting yourself from the sun as even in April it is strong enough to burn your skin.”

Tuesday will see a sunny start for nearly everyone across the UK, with some cloud in central parts of England burning off through the morning.

Wednesday will be another day of widespread sunshine, with temperatures possibly reaching 20C, especially in northeast Scotland.

Thursday and Friday are likely to bring the highest temperatures of the week, with 21C to 22C possible for southern parts of England. (Yui Mok/PA Wire)

Thursday and Friday are likely to bring the highest temperatures of the week, with 21C to 22C possible for southern parts of England.

Temperatures will be widely in the high teens across the UK. However, low cloud moving in from the North Sea will keep temperatures lower along the east coast through Thursday and Friday.

High pressure will continue to persist through the end of the week and into the weekend, with sunny conditions and warm temperatures in the west of the UK.

Although temperatures are likely to gradually drop on Saturday, they will still hover around the mid-teens and are likely to be higher than the average maximum temperature of 12C for the UK in April, forecasters said.

High pressure will continue to persist through the end of the week and into the weekend, with sunny conditions and warm temperatures in the west of the UK.siness (Andrew Matthews/PA) (PA Wire)

The warm weather still falls some way short of the record high in April of 29.4C, which was recorded Camden Square, London, in 1949, Met Office records show.

Met Office Deputy Chief Meteorologist, Mike Silverstone, said: “As the area of high pressure moves slightly further west it will allow some cloud to move into eastern areas of the UK. High pressure is forecast to remain dominant through the weekend and indeed at the start of next week, meaning a prolonged spell of settled weather for the UK with little in the way of rainfall and plenty of sunshine.

“Temperatures are likely to ease off though.”