Temperatures forecast to reach 20C in warmest day of the year so far

BySimon King

Lead Weather Presenter

Temperatures in parts of the UK are set to rise above 20C on Wednesday, making it the warmest weather of the year so far.

Scotland saw its warmest day of the year so far on Tuesday with 16.1C recorded in Lossiemouth on the Moray coast.

The warm weather coincides with the spring equilux where day and night are the same length, marking the end of more darkness than light.

The weather will also be mostly dry with some sunshine for most areas.

Colder Arctic air across the UK in the last week has meant temperatures have struggled to reach double figures for many.

Combined with some wintry showers and snow over higher ground, at the weekend it felt like winter had made a return.

However, through this week a warmer southerly wind will draw up air from the Mediterranean and bring temperatures around seven or eight degrees above average on Wednesday.

Widely across England and Wales temperatures will get into the mid to high teens.

For Wales we're very likely to see the warmest day of the year so far with the temperature exceeding the 17.8C recorded at Porthmadog on 5 March.

There's a possibility somewhere in west or north-west Wales could see a temperature exceeding 20C for the first time this year.

That would surpass the UK's current highest temperature of the year so far of 19.2C - set in London earlier in March.

The warmer weather comes in the same week as the start of astronomical spring - or the spring equinox - on Friday 20 March.

We've seen a rapid increase in daylight hours in recent weeks and from Wednesday our days will begin to get longer than our nights.

Temperatures will start to come down by a few degrees on Thursday and the rest of the week but still remain slightly above average for the time of year.

With high pressure extending across the UK, it is likely to stay dry for most of us for the rest of the week.

Some northern areas of the UK could see some cloud lingering with other areas also seeing some early morning mist and fog.

But for most - and especially across England and Wales - there is lots of sunshine in the forecast.

The drier weather is likely to last into the weekend and while the mornings could start a little cloudy and murky, there should still be a lot of sunshine developing.

You can stay across your local forecast here