UK has its hottest March day for 53 years as temperature tops 24C
The UK has enjoyed its hottest March day for 53 years as temperatures topped 24C on Tuesday.
Britons have been enjoying the sunshine and the easing of the coronavirus lockdown on the warmest day in March since 1968.
The Met Office said temperatures had gone over 24C "in places", with 24.4C recorded at Kew Gardens in London, making it "provisionally" the warmest March day in 53 years.
A temperature of 24.2C was recorded at St James’s Park in central London.
The warm spell of weather this week coincides with England easing out of lockdown.
Sports facilities such as tennis courts, golf courses, football and cricket pitches and swimming pools reopened on Monday.
Organised sports events are also permitted for the first time since the beginning of England’s third national lockdown in January.
Groups of six people, or two households, can also meet outside in parks or gardens.
Temperatures have exceeded 24°C in places today 🌡️
This makes it provisionally the warmest March day in the UK for 53 years 📈 pic.twitter.com/8IT6Q3hr6Z— Met Office (@metoffice) March 30, 2021
On Monday, golfers teed off just after midnight and swimmers splashed in outdoor pools from dawn to make the most of the new rules.
And on Tuesday, many people spent their days at the country’s beaches and parks under the sun.
Temperatures in March had not gone above 24C since 29 March, 1968, when 25.6C was recorded in Mepal in Cambridgeshire.
Steven Keates, a meteorologist at the Met Office, had said earlier: “If we do get above 24C it will be the highest UK March temperature in 53 years. It seems a reasonable chance that’s going to happen.”
“It’s an exceptionally warm spell of weather with potential for some records to be challenged.”
Met Office spokesman Oli Claydon said clouds will “start to thin” and give way to clear skies and sunshine for much of the week.
However, by the Easter weekend, cold air from the north may bring a “notable” dip in temperatures down to mid-single figures, with showers forecast to spread to most areas.
The coldest Easter weekend on record was in 2013 when -12.5C was recorded at Braemar in Aberdeenshire on Easter Sunday.
Keates said conditions would turn “cooler” through Thursday ahead of the arrival of the Easter weekend.
Scotland’s highest temperature of the year was equalled by the 19.3C at Aboyne in Aberdeenshire on Monday and a new top temperature for 2021 so far in Northern Ireland was set by the 17.3C recorded at Helen’s Bay in County Down.
Watch: Surfing, golf and relaxing in the park as England's lockdown eased