London the best bet for Easter

Britain is forecast to be bathed in warm spring sunshine over the Easter weekend with temperatures set to soar to 16 degrees centigrade in London and the South-East.

The Met Office says the capital will bask in clear blue skies for most of the four-day Bank Holiday weekend, the first sustained period of warm weather so far this year.

A spokesman said: "The South-East may escape as mostly dry and sunny for the whole weekend. I wouldn't say it's going to be shorts and T-shirts weather, unless you're a hardy soul, but it will be quite warm for this time of the year.

"Temperatures should be between 14-15C on Friday and Saturday and could reach 16C on Sunday and Monday. It looks like it's going to be pretty sound."

The Met Office said the temperatures are unusually good for late March, when the thermometer normally hovers between 9C and 12C.

The spokesman said tomorrow would be "dry with sunshine" throughout the country and there would be little change on Saturday although there would be "a small chance" of showers in some places. Sunday would be "slightly warmer" although rain will arrive in western areas, but the Eastern half of the country should stay be fine although it might be cloudy. Monday will also be warm with "chances of more cloud".

Sunseekers heading for the coast will also enjoy fine weather although temperatures will be slightly lower than inland, because of cool sea breezes, the Met Office spokesman added.

The bad news is, however, if you want to get away to enjoy the sunshine, you can expect travel trouble, as our reports below show.

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