Temperatures are forecast to hit 20C as the UK continues to see above-average temperatures for late April, the Met Office has said.

Most can look forward to a dry and sunny weekend, but it will be the west of the UK that experiences the warmest weather on Saturday and Sunday.

The mercury is expected to reach highs of 20C in Porthmadog in north Wales on Saturday afternoon – down slightly from a high of 20.8C recorded on Friday in the same location.

Liverpool and Shropshire are forecast to see temperatures of 17C, while the mercury will hover around 14C along the east coast, before dropping overnight.

People across England lapped up the good weather on their second weekend of increased freedom from lockdown restrictions, with people expected to fill the outdoor areas of bars and restaurants on Saturday night.

The mini-heatwave will continue into Sunday, although it will be the Western Highlands of Scotland that could see the warmest temperatures as the mercury hits 18C.

London is expected to be a cool 14C, with temperatures dropping further to 12C on the east coast.

Spring weather Apr 23rd 2021
A man swims in the Sky Pool next to the US Embassy in Nine Elms, south London (Victoria Jones/PA)

Met Office forecaster Martin Bowles said: “There will be lots of sunshine on Sunday, although slightly more cloudy in the east.

“It will be a bright and dry day, while the west of the country will remain wall-to-wall sunshine.

“Over the next few days temperatures are going to be dropping a bit because they are above average for this time of year.”

The mercury is forecast to hit highs of 16C on Monday, dropping to 15C on Tuesday and 13C on Wednesday.

Mr Bowles said the bank holiday weekend will see more “normal” temperatures for this time of year, around 15C in the south and 12C in the north.

Spring weather Apr 24th 2021
Roman Honsnejman (left) and Tereza Ondraskova enjoy the good weather at Hullard Park, Manchester (Danny Lawson/PA)

Those temperatures are the average daily maximum expected for late April, he added.

This weekend’s forecast should maintain the trend of what has been one of the driest Aprils on record with the UK seeing less than a fifth of the average rainfall for the month so far.

There has been an average of 12.8mm of rain across the UK up to April 22, much lower than the April average of 72.53mm, according to Met Office figures.

A typical April in the UK would have had 70% of its rainfall by now, but it instead has just had 18%.

The driest April on record across the UK was in 1938 when 14.1mm of rain was recorded, followed by April 1974 when 14.6mm of rain fell.