Britain basks in spring sunshine.

Photograph: Neill Hall/Reuters

Temperatures set to reach 24C in London - 10C above the average for this time of year - with England and Wales enjoying the best of the week’s warm weather
Britain is set to enjoy its hottest temperatures of the year so far, with the mercury expected to soar higher than in parts of Spain this week.

Most of England and Wales will bask in sunshine and warm conditions over the next three days as forecasters predict temperatures could reach as high as 24C (75.2F) in London on Wednesday – 10C (50F) above the average for the time of year.

The UK could even see warm weather continue over the next few months after the Met Office confirmed that hotter-than-average temperatures are more than twice as likely than below-average conditions until June.

Paul Mott, a forecaster at MeteoGroup, said that after snow was recorded on the Pennines on Sunday, the weather would be “quite a bit different over the next few days”.

“It will certainly turn much warmer,” he said. “Across England and Wales it will be dry, bright and there will be lengthy periods of sunshine.”

Temperatures should reach as high as 16C (60.8F) in south-east England on Monday, while Scotland will struggle to get above 10C (50F) and rain is forecast in the north-west of the country.

On Tuesday, temperatures will reach up to 22C (71.6F) in south-east England, while Scotland will hit a maximum of 15C (59F), Mott said.

Wednesday is likely to be the warmest of the year for much of Britain, with the mercury touching 24C (75.2F) in London and south-east England, according to MeteoGroup.

South-east England is expected to be warmer than southern and central Spain on Wednesday, with temperatures higher than Alicante’s 22C (71.6F) and the 18C (64.4F) forecast for Madrid on Wednesday.

Temperatures could reach 21C (69.8F) in Wales, 18C (64.4F) across the north of England and 12C (53.6F) in Scotland.

Mott said the forecast was more uncertain for Thursday and Friday, when it was expected to be cooler but would remain dry.

The predicted hot weather is the result of a plume of warm air heading towards the UK from the south-west, coming from as far as the Azores Islands, he added.

Meanwhile, a Met Office spokesman confirmed that near to above-average temperatures were predicted for April to June. There is a 20-25% chance that mean temperatures for the UK will fall into the warmest category, compared with a 10% chance of falling into the coldest category, he said.

It comes after temperatures soared on Friday, with the temperatures hitting 21.9C (71.42F) in St James’s Park in central London. With the heat came high levels of air pollution – eastern areas, the south-east, the east Midlands, Greater London, West Midlands and Yorkshire and Humberside were all affected by poor air quality.

Asthma sufferers, people with heart problems and older people were advised to reduce physical exertions, particularly while outdoors.

Poor Scottish people - even now (when the most part of Great Britain has excellent sunshine weather) they have a lack of sun and warm... But I'm glad for England and Wales having such beautiful forecast - enjoy it fully as long as possible! *it's a pity that vampires can't thorougy enjoy sunshine with people, but anyway absence of rain and clear sky can also create very beautiful nights...