Met Office UK weather forecast: Warmest day of the year so far but will it last?

The UK has just enjoyed the hottest day of the year so far with temperatures exceeding 20C. With clear skies and balmy conditions on Wednesday (March 18) you may be forgiven for thinking spring has well and truly sprung, but the highs are not set to last.

The Met Office is predicting temperatures are likely to have reached their “peak for a while”. This comes after a temperature of 20.1C was recorded in Northholt, west London, and in both Porthmadog and Gogerddan in Wales as of around 2.05pm on Wednesday, surpassing the previous record of 19.2C at Northholt on March 5.

The Met Office later confirmed temperatures rose to 20.9C in Gogerddan and 20.2C in Northholt at 3.35pm. Other areas with high temperatures included Trawsgoed in Wales, which recorded 19.5C.

Met Office spokesman Grahame Madge said the higher temperatures are because of warm air being dragged up from further south in Europe. Mr Madge said: “We get this a lot at this time of year, we sometimes joke the warmest day of the year klaxon is going off every day.

“I think this will be the peak for a while today, we are not expecting any further records in the next week or so.”

He added: “The values that have been reached today will probably be a high watermark for some little time to come.”

Although the peak temperatures reached on Wednesday are not set to be repeated for the time being, it’s not all doom and gloom. After a chilly start on Thursday (March 19), most can still expect to have a warm and sunny day, says the Met Office. However, “southern parts of Scotland and northern England will see more in the way of cloud”.

Moving towards the weekend there will be dry with sunny spells for many, however, by Saturday (March 21), there is a risk of rain across northern Scotland and perhaps more widely in the north on Sunday (March 22) and temperatures will be “turning cooler” across the UK.