There is nothing strange or unusual about the weather that is heading towards the UK over the next few days – it just marks a return to normal spring conditions.
It is the temperatures we have had over the last couple of days that have been out of the ordinary, in some cases more than 10C (18F) above the seasonal average.
26.6C (79.9F) at Kew Gardens on Wednesday was the second-highest temperature recorded in the UK during the first half of April.
It was just a fraction below the 26.7C (80.1F) recorded at Greenwich, London, on 4 April 1946.
The warmth came courtesy of a flow of southerly winds from continental Europe.
Temperatures climbed abruptly, building over just a couple of days to give all four nations of the UK their warmest weather of the year so far.
Climate change may also have played a part, making an already warm spell even warmer than it might have been in a pre-industrial world.
