Easter here will be warmer than Spain

Britain is expecting a mini-heatwave this Bank Holiday weekend with temperatures predicted to hit a balmy 21c.

Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday are all expected to be warm and dry, with morning mist quickly dispersing to be replaced by glorious sunshine.

Temperatures will range from 18c (64.4f) to 21c (69.8f), outdoing many European resorts.

Met Office forecaster Keith Fenwick said: "In the Costa del Sol, for instance, it will be slightly cooler and with a high chance of storms.

"Across southern Europe, it's going to be very unsettled, while here we think the good weather will continue into next week."

Spain has already been hit by flash floods, with Palma on Majorca receiving twice its average monthly rainfall in just two days last week.

Parts of Britain, however, enjoyed temperatures of 20.5c (68.9f) yesterday and forecasters say there are days of warm, dry weather ahead.

Cool nights and misty mornings will quickly give way to hours of sunshine, with temperatures of 18c tomorrow slowly rising over the weekend.

While northern parts of Britain may seem some rain on Monday, for most of us, the good weather is expected to hold until the end of next week.

The mini-heatwave follows an exceptionally sunny March. Last month, there were 142.9 hours of bright sunshine - almost 50 per cent higher than the March average of 96.3 hours.

Average temperatures were almost 1.5c higher than usual. The unseasonable temperatures follow record-breaking warm weather in 2006.

With average temperatures of 9.7c (49.5f), it was declared the hottest year since records began in 1659. July was the warmest month on record, with 263 hours of sunshine and temperatures of 36.5c (97.7f), while a balmy autumn brought us the warmest-ever September.

Such topsy-turvy weather has taken its toll on nature, with daffodils flowering before Christmas and migrating birds such as swifts, which would normally have flown to Africa for the winter, staying in Britain, only to see their food vanish when snow fell.

Hedgehogs have been badly affected, with the warm weather tricking them into coming out of hibernation early.

Once awake, they are unable to find enough food because the snails and insects they eat do not appear until later in the year.