Temperatures could hit as high as 22°C in Wales on Friday, after the Met Office recorded one of its sunniest March since records began. For the last few weeks, most of Wales and the rest of the UK have been experiencing dry and sunny weather.
Provisional Met Office statistics have shown that England enjoyed its sunniest March since records began in 1910, while it was Wales' second. During the third month of the year, all four UK nations experienced above average sunshine hours, with the UK recording its third sunniest.
According to the Met Office, at least 150% of average sunshine was recorded across north Wales and much of central and eastern England. It was also a very dry month, with only Scotland recording more than half of its meteorological average rainfall. Read the biggest stories in Wales first by signing up to our daily newsletter here.
Most of the southern half of England and parts of south Wales recorded just a fifth of their long-term average rainfall, with most stations in this area having recorded less than 10mm of rainfall across the month, with less than 5mm in the driest areas.
Wales recorded its fourth driest March since the series began in 1836, with just 23.9mm of rainfall across the month. In the UK, many counties recorded a very dry March, with Norfolk, Suffolk, Devon, Cambridgeshire and Gwynedd all within their top three driest Marches since 1836.
And it looks like the first week of April is set to follow in the theme of meteorological spring, according to the Met Office. It will be particularly warm for parts of south Wales on Friday afternoon, April 4.
According to the forecaster, temperatures could rise above 20°C, with temperatures in places such as Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil and Swansea reaching 21°C, and as high as 22°C in Burry Port and Chepstow.
Meanwhile, in the north of the country, it may be cooler in the coastal areas. For example, it could be around 16-17°C off the coast of Anglesey on Friday afternoon, while it'll be 18-19°C on the mainland coastal areas, stretching from Bangor to Colwyn Bay.
It has been a beautiful week but there is one snag - and that's part of Wales will see some rain on Thursday evening with showers affecting the southwestern areas. Showers are set to hit the UK around 6pm and could last into the early hours of Friday. They are set to clear by 10am.
The Met Office predicts it will mostly be dry and mainly sunny over the weekend and into next week too. However, we may not see the maximum temperatures of 22°C going into the new week, as temperatures will generally be lower than on Friday.
The Met Office says we could be in for some chilly nights in the week ahead, it will become breezy at times. But it will still be feeling warm in the sunshine.
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