Image caption Families flocked to Portobello beach on the outskirts of Edinburgh

Scotland has enjoyed its hottest Easter Monday on record with a top temperature of 24.2C (75.5F) in Kinlochewe in Wester Ross.

The figure beat the previous high of 21.4C (70.5F) from 2014.

It came 24 hours after a peak of 23.4C in Edinburgh broke Scotland's Easter Sunday record.

This year, Easter fell on the latest date since 2011, meaning that warm weather is far more likely than those years when Easter is marked in March.

Image copyright PA Image caption Six-year-old Brodie Tait cools down in a fountain in Edinburgh's Princes Street Gardens

The Met Office said all four of the UK nations had recorded their warmest Easter Monday on record.

The second highest temperature recorded in Scotland was 23.7C (74.6F) in Achnagart in the Highlands, followed by 23.5C (74.3F) in Kinloss in Moray.

Temperatures are likely to fall back to the seasonal average later in the week.

Image caption Temperatures across Scotland were warmer than many parts of the Mediterranean

The Monday sunshine brought huge crowds to beaches and parks around the country.

That caused some disruption on the roads, with long tailbacks around parts of Loch Lomond.

Traffic was also heavy around Largs and other Ayrshire seaside towns. In the east there were reports of big delays near the Fife coast.

Image caption Kelvingrove Park in Glasgow was a popular sun trap

Matt Row, duty forecaster at the Met Office in Aberdeen, said much of Scotland had been warmer than the Mediterranean, which was "quite remarkable".

Image copyright Merlynhs Image caption BBC Scotland Weather Watcher Merlynhs took this picture of the glorious conditions on the Isle of Lewis

Image copyright Sharons travels Image caption The Isle of Harris got in on the act too, with this scene captured by BBC Scotland Weather Watcher Sharons travels

He added: "We've had wall-wall-wall sunshine, from Shetland all the way down to Galloway.

"Normally we expect 12C as an average for much of Scotland in April. But today the Balearics have been 15C and 17C in eastern Spain.

"It will be another warm day in the west of Scotland on Tuesday, with temperatures up to 22C. But it will be cooler in the east and we will see that cooler weather spreading across the whole of Scotland during the rest o the week.

"And, indeed, there will be some welcome rain for many of us by Thursday and Friday."