Hottest day of the year so far – as millions of Bank Holiday travellers face delays

Good Friday has officially become the hottest day of the year so far after 22C (71.6F) was recorded in central London.

Today’s temperature in St James’s Park beats the previous record of 20.8C (69.4F) set in London on 23 March and Cornwall on 25 March.

The temperature is likely to climb further, the Met Office added.

Friday’s sunshine is not just confined to the capital, however, with highs also seen in northern parts of England and Scotland.

Today had already been touted as likely to be the hottest day of the year so far, with Met Office experts predicting “very pleasant” spring conditions over the Easter weekend.

Read more: Everything you need to know amid fears of road and rail chaos

Ahead of the first Easter holiday weekend with no COVID restrictions, families were warned of traffic delays, rail, ferry and airport disruption as they planned their getaways.

The AA predicts 27.6 million car journeys will be made over the course of the weekend, with motorists urged to get in the car on Saturday, rather than Friday.

Traffic will be heaviest in Kent, where P&O ferries from Dover to Calais have been suspended all weekend.

There are also likely to be queues around Stansted and Gatwick airports as weekend engineering works mean buses replace trains on routes from London.

Trains are also cancelled on the West Main Line between London Euston and Milton Keynes.

Aviation data firm Cirium said 9,212 flights with 1.6 million seats are scheduled to depart from UK airports between Good Friday and Easter Monday – 78% of the total for Easter 2019.

The busiest day will be today, when some 2,430 flights are due to depart.

But families could face disappointment as airlines are still being forced to cancel flights due to COVID-related staff sickness.