Warm Easter weather forecast to draw crowds to Brighton’s beaches

The Easter weekend could bring the hottest temperatures of the year so far with highs of up to 22C (72F), forecasters have said.

Warm weather is set to continue throughout the week, with dry conditions expected for most of the country before the bank holiday weekend.

There have already been travel warnings about the volume of traffic expected on main roads, with Brighton seafront a popular destination when the weather is good.

And with no trains to or from Victoria over the Easter weekend, although a London Bridge service is running, more visitors may choose to come by car.

A cloudy start is expected to Good Friday (15 April) but the forecast includes some relatively sunny spells and a fairly light breeze taking the edge off the heat.

Met Office meteorologist Annie Shuttleworth said that eastern areas of Britain would be the best destination for sun-seekers over the weekend.

She said: “If people are travelling for sunshine, then further eastern areas are more likely to see that brighter weather.

“In the main for the bank holiday weekend, we’ll see temperatures quite widely above average across the UK and they could be very warm in the south east in particular.

“(Temperatures will be) warmer than average certainly but nowhere near heatwave criteria. It will definitely be warmer than the week we’ve just had and last week.”

The warmest temperature of the year so far has been 20.8C, meaning the highs predicted for the south east at the weekend would set a new record for 2022.

She added: “We’ll see temperatures generally come up through the week. From Thursday onwards temperatures could reach 20C, 21C, quite possibly 22C.”