Britain basks in spring sunshine

Parts of Britain basked in glorious spring weather today.

The highest temperature recorded by the Met Office was in Gravesend, Kent, where the mercury reached an impressive 15.5C, making it the hottest day of the year so far.

The UK suffered a brutal cold snap in March last year when the average temperature was 2.2C.

But 12 months on people are sitting outside among daffodils while newborn lambs soak up the spring sunshine.

Met Office spokeswoman Nicky Maxey said temperatures are set to hit 17C by the weekend.

"We're looking at a north-south divide today," she said. "We've had some colder weather with rain in Scotland and some warmer weather down south.

"This will persist over the next few days with some colder, wetter weather in the North, whereas the South and particularly South East will see warmer weather. We could see temperatures in the mid to late teens over the weekend. We may see a 16 or 17C, particularly in the South East.

"It will still remain fairly cloudy but there could be some breaks with some sunshine."