THE sun rises over the River Frome in Dorset to herald a mini-heatwave.
The warm weather, set to hit 18C this week, brought visitors — and parakeets — out to parks yesterday.
4
4
It came after a spectacular Northern Lights show in Scotland on Sunday night.
Parts of the UK will be hotter than Rome this week as temperatures rise.
A 700-mile long African heat burst will roll over the UK and send the mercury higher than the 15C recorded in Italy’s capital.
The figure will also be well above the average for March of 11C.
Punters at the four-day Cheltenham Festival will enjoy a balmy first day on Tuesday as the racing gets underway in front of spectators for the first time since 2020.
But a downpour on Wednesday will give way to clear sunshine later in the day.
Temperatures will remain in the high teens for St Patrick’s Day on Thursday and into the weekend.
Friday will see bright and sunny spells across the country as the festival’s showcase event, the Gold Cup gets underway.
Most read in The Sun
Oli Claydon, spokesman for the Met Office said: “Temperatures will slowly increase through the week, although it won’t be bright and sunny for everyone all the time.”
The forecast has prompted bookies to slash the odds that Friday will see parts of the UK warmer than Italy.
Nicola McGeady of Ladbrokes said: “To coincide with one of the hottest races of the year, the odds suggest Britain will bask in the hottest day of the year so far.
“It’s now odds-on at 1/2 that temperatures soar, and we’ve got better weather than Rome.”
4
4
