UK to be warmer than Greek Islands as temperatures reach 18C - but rain on the way

Easter Sunday could become the warmest day of the year with temperatures reaching 18C in some areas.

A huge beach rush is being triggered by a sunny 600 mile-wide “subtropical surge” as the UK enjoys better weather than parts of Greece.

Holidaymakers will bask in glorious blue skies with highs of 18C boosting millions of UK ‘staycations’.

The heat has blown in from the Azores islands in the mid-Atlantic.

Met Office meteorologist Dan Stroud said: “Overnight there will be clear spells with temperatures in single figures at points, with a risk of patches of grass frost.

“It will be a bit of a cloudier start to tomorrow (Sunday) across the centre and east, which will lift and break during the course of the morning and into the afternoon.

“Further west it will be a beautiful start to the day with sunny spells that will allow temperatures to rise comfortably into the mid-teens.

“There is an 80 per cent chance of 18C temperatures in east Wales and the West Midlands.”

However, more unsettled wet weather is predicted to gradually head in from the west.

By Monday, a mix of showers and sunny spells are on the cards for most across the UK.

Met Office forecaster Craig Snell described Easter Monday as “the day to do anything you want indoors”.

It is expected to turn gloomier as the working week begins with the possibility of severe gales in some parts of the country – which could trigger Met Office weather warnings.

This more wintry weather is not expected to lift until after April 17 and a heatwave is not on the cards next week.