UK To Be As Hot As The Sahara This Weekend

Forecasters are predicting a treat for sun worshippers this weekend as UK temperatures match those in the Sahara Desert.

Thursday saw Britain hit 20C for the first time this year, with Otterbourne in Hampshire basking in the balmy weather.

Sky News weather presenter Nazaneen Ghaffar said: "Most places will keep the fine weather this weekend.

"The warmest day will be on Saturday where there'll be plenty of inland sunshine once the mist, fog and low cloud thin away during the morning.

"Further inland, the south could reach highs of 20-21C.

"Sunday will bring more warm sunshine for many, especially across central and western parts, but once again North Sea coasts will be plagued by the mist and fog."

Temperatures in the African desert are predicted to be around 21C this weekend.

Spring may have sprung officially just a few days ago but with peaks at 20-21°C expected over the weekend Britons will have a true taste of summer with temperatures to rival those normally seen in June.

While the record March temperature of 25.6C, recorded in Mepal, Cambridgeshire, in 1968, will not be challenged, the sunshine will be welcomed by vitamin D-starved Brits.

The alarm bells have started ringing for water boards, however, as an unseasonably dry winter has already left supply levels in dire straits.

Last week, water boards in southern and eastern England said they would impose hosepipe bans.

The warnings came after the environment department declared in February that the South East had joined most of East Anglia in a state of drought, with the rest of the region to follow.

The bans are set to come into force from April.