A burst of early summer is expected to see thousands of sun-starved Brits break out the barbecues and take to the beaches for the first time this year.

A dry and bright Spring Bank Holiday is predicted with temperatures of up to 22C along the south coast matching Spanish resort Marbella.

Packed out parks and beer gardens should greet the best of the weather before the mercury drops again next week.

Leon Brown, forecaster for The Weather Channel UK, said: “Saturday looks the best for central Britain and Wales with dry and bright to sunny weather.

“Temperatures will be near average in the mid to upper teens with the warmest in the south-west reaching 20C locally.

“It is turning cooler again on Sunday from the north but staying dry and brighter over the far south and south-west.”

Temperatures are expected to be around the seasonal average with highs of 14-17C generally but reaching 18C or 19C in parts of the South.

Saturday will be dry across most of Britain with sunshine and cloud across the south but a few scattered showers moving down from the north on Sunday.

But temperatures in the high teens will continue in to Whit Monday with a largely dry day seeing the best of the sunshine in south-west England.

The Met Office said most of the Bank Holiday is looking warm and sunny thanks to an 'Azores high' weather pattern from Europe.

Spokeswoman Nicky Maxey said: “Temperatures will creep up into the high teens and reach 20C or 21C by Sunday.

“It is a similar picture on Monday and could be warmer in spots with prolonged sunshine, this is due to high pressure over the Azores Islands affecting the UK weather.

“It is cooling down slightly next week.”

Sunny spells returned to much of Britain on Thursday and Friday, after rain storms earlier in the week.

Met Office figures show the start of May has already seen 74.1mm (2.9ins) of rainfall - more than a month’s worth.

It has also been cooler than average with a UK mean temperature of 9.2C - 1.2C below the full-month average.

Originally published on Mirror Online.