Parts of the UK could be warmer than Greece and Spain this week as the UK gets set to welcome in warm weather. The Met Office says that the UK will see warm sunshine for much of the week, with temperatures rising as high as 20 degrees Celsius.

The agency said: “Tuesday will see a sunny start for nearly everyone across the UK, with some cloud in central parts of England burning off through the morning. “With a breeze developing across the south of the UK temperatures will be kept a little lower here through the day, with the highest temperatures likely in the northwest of England and north Wales where 19°C is possible. “Wednesday will be another day of widespread sunshine, with temperatures possibly reaching 20°C, especially in northeast Scotland where the Foehn effect will amplify temperatures during the day.

“Thursday is likely to bring the highest temperatures of the week, with 21-22°C possible for southern parts of England. Temperatures will be widely in the high teens across the UK.

“However, low cloud moving in from the North Sea will keep temperatures lower along the east coast through Thursday and Friday.”

The warm weather in the UK will not be matched across the continent, with Athens set to see highs of 17 degrees and Barcelona 16 degrees on Thursday.

Met Office Chief Meteorologist Paul Gundersen said: “The UK will have a sunny start to April this week.

“Temperatures will slowly build, with highs of 21-22°C possible by Thursday. Other than a small chance of some light rain grazing the far southwest of England it will be a dry week too.

“At this time of the year, we do start to see higher UV levels, so if you are outside enjoying the sunshine do think about protecting yourself from the sun as even in April it is strong enough to burn your skin.”

A Met Office spokesperson warned that largely cloudless skies could lead to chilly nights and outbreak at frost in the early morning.

For those working all week while the sun shines outside, there is good news, with temperatures likely to remain high into the weekend.

Met Office Deputy Chief Meteorologist Mike Silverstone said: “High pressure is forecast to remain dominant through the weekend and indeed at the start of next week, meaning a prolonged spell of settled weather for the UK with little in the way of rainfall and plenty of sunshine.”