T-shirt Thursday: UK hotter than North Africa as temperatures top 19°C

Britain got an early taste of summer as the mercury rose to a balmy 19°C.

The East Midlands, West Midlands and the North West were the warmest spots, with conditions hotter than Algiers and Morocco in North Africa.

Temperatures are 11°C above the seasonal average for this time of year, according to the Met Office.

The exceptionally mild conditions came just two weeks after much of the country was hit by blizzards and lows of -15.6°C – which made it colder than the Arctic at the time.

[Related link: Check the 5-day forecast]

While skies remained overcast, the best of the sunshine was in central regions and the south of the country.

On Thursday night and early Friday morning, the weather will stay mild with highs of 11°C.

A south-westerly flow of air from the Atlantic is causing the unseasonable mild weather, forecaster Sarah Holland told Yahoo! News.

[Related link: Top 10 British beaches]

She said: “Thursday will be a mild and pleasant winter’s day. It’s not exceptional to have this weather but it is a welcome change to the cold temperatures we saw at the start of the month. We are likely to see temperatures in double figures until early next week.”

The all-time temperature record of 19.7°C, recorded on February 13, 1998, at Greenwich Observatory, London.

While Eastern Scotland enjoyed highs of 16°C on Wednesday, many parts of the UK were hit by heavy rain and wind.

                                 [Related story: It’s official: South East in state of drought]

The warm weather comes days after Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman declared a state of drought in the South East with potential hosepipe and shower bans.