UK weather forecast: Britain to bask in highs of 23C before rainy bank holiday weekend

It will be hotter than Rome, but bank holiday will be patchy

Parts of Britain are set to bask in temperatures that are hotter than Rome and the Canary Islands before a drizzly bank holiday weekend.

The mercury will hit as high as 23C during the first half of the week, the Met Office said, with warm sunny spells for much of England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

But northern areas of England and Scotland will experience potentially thundery showers over the next few days.

Temperatures are set to reach highs of 22C on Tuesday and 23C on Wednesday in London and the southeast.

It comes after the UK enjoyed its warmest Easter Monday on record last month, with temperatures hitting 25C in some parts of the country.

However, temperatures will start to drop towards the seasonal average by the end of the week, according to the Met Office.

Meteorologist Mark Wilson told The Independent: “It’s likely that the weather is going to turn more changeable after Thursday. It won’t be a complete washout but cloud cover could be thick enough to bring showers and some spells of rain.”

He added: “We are also likely to see banks of rain spreading their way eastwards across the country. Some areas will experience dry and fine weather for part of the weekend, but all of us will see some cloud and rain.”

Mr Wilson said temperatures were likely to peak at around 18C in the south and 14C in the north and Scotland over the bank holiday weekend.

Temperatures across parts of Europe are set to be much warmer, with Spain and the south of France looking at highs in the low 30s.

The drizzly weather expected for the UK is in stark contrast to the spring bank holiday last year, when most of the country enjoyed warm sunshine.

Additional reporting by Press Association