Britain has sizzled in warm spring weather again as temperatures soared once more into the 70s across much of the country.
For the third day in a row, it was the hottest day of the year so far.
The unusually warm conditions for mid-April produced readings of 22C and 23C (72-73F) in many areas and there was one of 25.3C (77F) at Hurstmonceux in Sussex at 3pm.
That made it warmer than parts of southern Spain and the Middle East - Beirut and Gibraltar managed 19C (66F) and Almeria and Majorca were trailing at 18C (64F).
Forecaster Jeremy Plester of MeteoGroup UK said: "It's the hottest day of the year so far. There have been decent temperatures pretty much everywhere, with only some coastal areas missing out.
"It's been cooler, and there's even been some rain, in the far west."
The warm weather fell shy, though, of April's record reading of 29.4C (84.92F), recorded in Camden Square on April 16, 1949. "But it's a valiant effort," Mr Plester said.
Cool fronts coming down from the north would bring temperatures down over the next couple of days but there would still be plenty of bright, dry weather around, he added.
