Met Office weather: UK will be hotter than Ibiza, Los Angeles and Marbella as warm April continues

Much of the country will be dry and sunny on Friday, and some parts of central England may hit 24C as weather “nearer to what we’d expect in July” continues, the Met Office said.

“It's a lovely day to be out and about,” said Met Office meteorologist Clare Nasir, adding that “UV levels are on the up, so you may find during the middle part of the day you could burn if you have fair skin.”

The highest temperature recorded so far this year was 21.3C in Northolt, west London, and Chertsey, Surrey, on March 20.

Southern England hit highs of 20.7C on Thursday, while Achnagart in the Scottish Highlands reached 20.1C.

Eastern areas of the country were cooler due to easterly winds over the North Sea.

The Met Office said on social media: “Temperatures (on Thursday) have been nearer to what we’d expect in July in some inland and western areas, but conversely a chilly easterly breeze has kept many eastern coastal regions much colder.”

The average temperature for this time of year is around 12C in England and 10C in Scotland.

Forecaster Dan Stroud said: “We’ve got an area of cloud and showery outbreaks of rain moving northwards across south-west England and parts of Wales overnight tonight and into tomorrow.

“So that will bring some welcome rain for small parts of the country, but much of the country is looking at another fine and dry spring day tomorrow with a lot of warm sunshine on offer, although still holding on to those cool temperatures near the east coast. But one thing we are expecting tomorrow is for temperatures to creep up into 23C or maybe the odd isolated 24C, so potentially the warmest day of the year so far.”

It comes as firefighters have been tackling major blazes in Scotland and Dorset.

Mr Stroud said wildfires have hit the country after a dry period in March. In Scotland, crews have been fighting a large grass fire at Gartur Moss in Port of Menteith, Stirling.

The alarm was raised around noon on Wednesday and four fire engines remained at the scene on Thursday morning. Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) said the blaze stretched half a kilometre.

It added that a “very high to extreme” risk of wildfire remains across the country until Monday and urged the public not to light fires outdoors.

Crews have already extinguished a wildfire near Bonhill in West Dunbartonshire and another in the Kilpatrick Hills near Milngavie, East Dunbartonshire, earlier this week.

Moors Valley Country Park on the Dorset-Hampshire border will remain closed after being hit by multiple wildfires since Monday.

Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service (DWFRS) said crews were called to the park again on Wednesday after more hotspots were discovered during a reinspection near Ringwood. Several hectares of woodland have been destroyed. No injuries have been reported.