Londoners can expect temperatures in the high 20s this week as the sun is set to stay.

After a horribly cold and gloomy winter, this week will see the hottest day of the year so far with temperatures of at least 25 degrees.

Last month saw the coldest March on record with many of us struggling to get to work and moaning about the amount of snow and ice.

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But the Met Office has forecast a clear and dry week taking us up to Monday, April 23, so it is probably time to get out the sun cream.

The mercury could rise to up to 10C above the average for April, the Met Office has said.

Meteorologist Alex Burkill said the weather will be "turning warmer for a little time" as hotter air is dragged up from the south, causing temperatures to rise as high as 25C (77F) by Thursday.

Mr Burkill said the best of sunshine and warmth on Tuesday will be in the south east, where temperatures of 18C (64.4F) or 19C (66.2F) could be recorded.

He added: "It is not out of the question that we can get 20C (68F) tomorrow - which I believe would make it the warmest day of the year so far."

Mr Burkhill said the rest of the week will also get warmer, and revealed that on Wednesday there could be highs of up to 22C (71.6F).

"Thursday is probably going to be the warmest day - we could get highs of 24C (75.2F) or 25C (77F) (in the south east)," he said.

Thursday's warm blast will see parts of the country be hotter than some European destinations, including Malaga in Spain at 21C (69.8F) and Athens in Greece at 23C (73.4F).

Forecaster Lucy Martin said: “Temperatures by the time we get to Thursday they are reaching a maximum of around 26 degrees Celsius the wind having eased as well.”

We can thank the sun gods and confidently put the ‘Beast from the East’ behind us.