UK weather today: Met Office gives forecast following hottest day of the year with 23C high

Prepare your barbecues - because this weekend is set to be a .

says it will be hot and dry both today and tomorrow, though Saturday will be warmer. Highs of 21C are expected later today, and it will be particularly warm across Southwest England. It will be 20C across the majority of the country, including western areas.

But - the hottest day of the year so far. The peak was registered by the in Otterbourne, Hampshire, which is approximately 15 miles from the coast.

And it is expected beaches across the south coast, including at Brighton, Bournemouth, Weymouth and Lyme Regis, will be busy throughout the weekend as the south of the country is anticipated the warmest. Sunday will be pleasant and dry, though Saturday is thought to be the warmest day of the weekend.

READ MORE:

Becky Mitchell, a meteorologist at the Met Office, said: "Overall, we are in for very warm across much of the UK, with plenty of sunshine heading into the weekend.

"We will hang on to a good deal of sunshine and dry weather across the whole of the UK. Southern England and South Wales will still be rather warm, but with quite a strong wind.

"Elsewhere, we've got some slightly cooler air pushing in from the North East, so temperatures will come down by quite a few degrees for the rest of the country, but it will still feel pleasant in the sunshine. Heading into Sunday again, largely fine, dry and sunny across the whole of the UK."

Shoppers have dashed to buy barbecues in anticipation of the glorious weather, say. alone predicts weekend sales of one million packs of sausages, nearly one million packs of barbecue rolls, and 1.7 million packs of ice cream.

The 21C will be a return to , when the mercury peaked at 21.3C in Northolt, west London. However, this period did not last long as, after a few days, temperatures tumbled again. This pattern is feared again by some forecasters as a low band of pressure looms over the Atlantic. This will cause by the middle of April, so much so .

The change will see the mercury fall to below freezing - coldest across Lancashire, Scottish Highlands, and County Antrim - and a bitter wind arrive. This cold snap may last for several days but forecasters hope temperatures will again pick up over Easter.