February set to be hottest on record - but sun will disappear this weekend

This month is on course to be the hottest February on record, but forecasters say the unexpected heatwave is now easing off.

Scattered showers on Thursday will bring an end to the ‘wall-to-wall’ sunshine enjoyed during the recent hot spell, which saw new winter record temperatures set on two consecutive days.

The previous warmest February was in 1998, when the average maximum daily temperature was 9.8C (49.6F).

The highest February temperature of 21.2C (70.2F) was recorded at Kew Gardens on Tuesday.

Thursday is predicted to stay mild, with cloudy skies and highs of 14C (57.2F) forecast in London.

Forecaster Becky Mitchell said: “At the moment, the current average is 9.9C and of course we have got just one more day of February to go, so it looks like we are on track to be the warmest February on record.”

February’s exceptional conditions have seen fires at Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh, on Saddleworth Moor in West Yorkshire and in North Wales, Sussex and Lancashire.

The weather today will be more unsettled than the previous clear days and ‘possibly heavy and thundery’ showers moving east across England and Wales.

Friday will see some heavy rain in western parts of the UK, and the adverse weather is to continue ‘right through the weekend’, Ms Mitchell said.

Experts say weather extremes like the February heatwave are now more likely to occur in the future.

Bob Ward from the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at LSE told the Independent: “Our climate is transforming towards warmer and wetter winters and hotter and drier summers.

“From 2000 onwards, the UK has experienced its 10 warmest years on record and six of its seven wettest years.

“[The] record for the UK’s winter temperature is consistent with the clear climate change signal that we are seeing in the UK.”