Good Friday has officially become the hottest day of the year so far, after 22C (71.6F) was registered in central London.
Today’s temperature in St. James Park breaks the previous record of 20.8C (69.4F), set in London on March 23 and Cornwall on March 25.
The temperature is likely to rise further – probably to 23 degrees Celsius (73.4 F), added the meteorological service.
However, sunshine on Friday is not limited to the capital, with peaks in the northern parts of England and Scotland.
Read more: Everything you need to know amid fears of road and rail chaos
Image: M3 traffic jams near Egham, Surrey on Friday
Ahead of COVID’s first Easter weekend without restrictions, families were warned of traffic delays, disruptions to rail, ferry and airports as they planned their escapes.
AA estimates that 27.6 million car trips will be made over the weekend, with drivers being urged to get in the car on Saturday, not Friday.
Rod Dennis of the RAC said: “While much of the country’s main roads appear to be relatively free at the moment, traffic for Easter getaways is starting to increase in some places and is likely to continue during the day.
So far, traffic was heaviest on the K20 M20 today, following the shutdown of P&O ferries between Dover and Calais all weekend.
An overturned truck saw the queue of the M6 in Greater Manchester, while heavy traffic jams were reported on the M25 near Heathrow Airport.
Increased traffic heading southwest means long queues on the M4 and M5 to the south, the RAC said.
Image: Bluebells in Wanstead Park, East London, on Good Friday
There are also likely to be queues around Stansted and Gatwick airports, as engineering work over the weekend means buses are replacing trains on routes from London.
Trains have been canceled on the West Main Line between London Euston and Milton Keynes.
Aviation data firm Cirium said 9,212 flights with 1.6 million seats were scheduled to take off from airports in the UK between Good Friday and Easter Monday – 78% of the total for Easter 2019.
The busiest day will be today, when about 2430 flights have to take off.
But families may face disappointment, as airlines are still forced to cancel flights due to COVID-related staff illness.
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