UK weather: Will it be warmer than Madrid next week, what's the hottest temperature ever recorded in March?

If, like me, you have been literally counting down the days until winter ends and spring is on the way, you could be in for some luck as it looks like warmer days are on their way and sooner than you might think. Although you might have woken up to fog this Saturday March 1, hopefully you have enjoyed some sunshine today.

It would seem that by Wednesday the Met Office is predicting that temperatures could rise to 16C in some areas and it would appear that Aberdeen could reach 15C on Wednesday, which would make it hotter than Madrid and Barcelona. Honor Criswick, a Met Office meteorologist has said that the start of March, will actually be more lamb-like than lion-like” and UK residents would expect to find “lots of brighter weather” around.

According to the Met Office’s long term weather forecast from March 6 to March 15, one should expect “a split in weather conditions is likely across the UK at first during early March.

“Northwestern areas will see some rain and stronger winds at times, as Atlantic weather systems arrive. These spells of wet and windy weather will drift southeast to some degree, but will weaken. High pressure is likely to have more influence across the south of the UK, at least at first.

“However, through this period there is an increasing chance of changeable conditions becoming more widely dominant across the UK with more in the way of rain at times for all areas, even in the south. Although, there will still be some drier interludes between these periods of unsettled conditions. Temperatures overall are likely to be above average and potentially very mild early in this period.

One has to go back a long way for the hottest temperature ever recorded in March in the UK. The hottest-ever March temperature of 25.6C was recorded at Mepal, Cambridgeshire, in 1968.