The Met Office has forecast a potential early taste of summer across the UK in the coming week.
Parts of the country could reach highs of 26C by Friday, as warm, settled weather is expected to arrive just in time for the bank holiday weekend.
The warm weather could continue into and beyond the bank holiday too, forecasters have said.
Met Office forecasting 26C summer sunshine in UK this week
Met Office forecaster Craig Snell said: “The first half of this week is still going to be changeable, if not unsettled, across parts of the UK.
“Temperatures at the start of the week still a little subdued for the time of the year, as we head towards the weekend we are expecting to see a change.”
Monday will be a day of sunshine and showers, some could be heavy with the occasional rumble of thunder, before a band of rain moves across most of the UK later in the day.
On Wednesday, there will be a mixture of sunshine and showers.
The outlook remains unsettled through Tuesday, bringing further wet and blustery conditions.
However, by Wednesday, temperatures in southern England are expected to reach around 20°C.
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The weather is set to improve further on Thursday and Friday, with drier, sunnier conditions and maximum temperatures possibly reaching 26C in the South East.
Mr Snell said it’s still too early to predict how long the warm spell will last, but the outlook remains promising.
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He said: “The best of the sunshine across the bank holiday weekend will probably be across England and Wales.”
“Temperatures still above normal, potentially very warm again, but it’s a bit too far in the future to get maximums.”
“Indications are at the moment that the bank holiday looks a lot better than what we’ve had over the last week or so.”
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