UK weather forecast: Mini-heatwave on way with African plume sending temperatures soaring

Britain will bask in a glorious Spring heatwave this week as tropical air from the Azores sends temperatures exceeding 20C.

Forecasters say the mercury will hit 21C in some parts of the country by Wednesday.

And it'll remain warm for some time, the Met Office stressed.

"More prolonged sunshine would be needed for temperatures above 19C.

"The South stays drier at the weekend with a wetter interlude in the North, and after some weather fronts pass, it looks potentially quite warm into mid-April," said forecaster Steven Keates today.

Since Spring Equinox on Wednesday, Britain has endured dull overcast spells - with huge rainfall in some places.

But now temperatures will slowly start to lift, coinciding with the beginning of the cricket season on Tuesday and the start of official British Summer Time on Saturday night.

Surfers carry their boards along a sandbank today in Newnham-on-Severn, Gloucestershire (PA)

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Brian Gaze, forecaster for The Weather Outlook, said: "Temperatures will rise right on cue as British Summer Time nears and the cricket season starts.

"21C could be seen in the second half of the week."

Ex-BBC and Met Office forecaster John Hammond, of weathertrending, said: "Fine weather will allow daytime temperatures to rise through the week, with many place feeling pleasantly warm."

The average temperature for this time of the year in London is just 9C. It rarely exceeds 7C in Manchester.

People enjoy a trip along the River Cam in sunny Cambridge today (Geoff Robinson)

UK weather forecast: Spring starts with 20C scorcher as Azores air warms Britain  

It is unclear if temperatures will exceed the 21.1C that Kew, west London, saw on February 26.

It was Britain's hottest winter day since records began 178 years ago.  

Ceredigion, west Wales, also saw the mercury nudge past 20C last month during our last balmy spell.

Florence O'Sullivan, three, plays in the daffodils in Green Park, London (PA)

Forecasters say we could be in for a repeat of the beautiful late February weather (Hugo Michiels/LNP)

People spend time on the beach in Brighton, Sussex (PA)

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In fact, Met Office said this February saw a new UK record for the highest average maximum temperature for the month.

The average daily peak was 10.0C, beating the previous record of 9.8C, which was set in 1998.

Brits were pictured on beaches in swimming costumes as they soaked up the sun at popular resorts such as Brighton.

The UK was twice as hot as Athens and warmer than Ibiza.

But experts said climate change is heating up the whole weather system and making extremes more likely.