The bank holiday weekend is expected to bring blue skies, widespread sunshine and potentially the hottest day of the year so far.

London on Saturday may see highs of 23C (73.4F), while on Sunday Manchester and Liverpool could be basking in 24C (75.2F).

The UK is forecast to be bathed in warm sunshine on Monday with the mercury climbing to a possible high of 25C (77F), meaning it would surpass the current high for 2021 which was 24.5C (76.1F) recorded on March 31 in Kew Gardens.

The pleasant weather marks a welcome break from the rain that has dominated the UK since the start of the month.

According to the Met Office’s early provisional stats, the UK has already had its fourth wettest May on record with an average of 199mm falling, and a few days still to go.

The wettest locations, receiving more than twice the average rainfall, were southwest and northeast England, as well as Wales and parts of eastern Scotland.

Parts of Scotland and northern England even saw snow at the beginning of the month when temperatures of -5.5C were recorded.

The Met Office said the often dull and wet conditions resulted in subdued temperatures across the board.

Wales, Scotland and the UK as a whole are currently seeing May’s average maximum temperatures in their 10 lowest ever recorded.

Forecasters say the settled and warm bank holiday weather could well see this position change in the final statistics.

Met Office forecaster Matthew Box said: “It’s obviously a welcome change I think for many.

“Given that we have had a reasonably cold and then a wet couple of months through spring, with April being cold and May being wet and cloudy and generally on the cool side too, we’ve got a sunny end to May.

“It might catch a few people out given that we haven’t seen much sun and UV levels are going to be quite high over the weekend as well so that’s something to be aware of.”