Sunscreen, hats and sunglasses are essential across Britain on Sunday, with sunshine forecast to send spring temperatures soaring before reaching an early May bank holiday record of 29C (84F) on Monday.

Sunshine is expected across almost the whole country, but those in the south-east of England will bask in the warmest temperatures, according to the Met Office. Sunday’s sunshine is expected to push the mercury to almost 26C.

If you have outdoor plans this afternoon and like sunshine, you're in for a treat (well most of us are). It's a hot ☀️day out there, though cloudier for northwest Scotland ☁️ with some mist along Irish Sea coasts pic.twitter.com/xDJ8ijVMc2 — Met Office (@metoffice) May 6, 2018

Some western coastal areas began the day shrouded in mist, but the sun burned it away during the morning.

Only the north-west of Scotland was expected to have thicker cloud and some rain.

“We are looking at 25C, possibly 26C, probably somewhere west of London,” said Helen Roberts, a Met Office meteorologist. “Tomorrow, warmer still. It’s a very similar day, lots of warm sunshine again.

“We could see 28C, probably close to 29C tomorrow. Either way, it’s going to break some kind of record.”

The record temperature for the early May bank holiday of 23.6C was set in 1996, she said.

“UV levels are going to be high across the weekend and actually people forget that even when it’s cloudy you can still burn – not that there’s going to be much cloud around.

“The advice would be plenty of sunscreen, have clothes to cover up, hats and sun glasses. The eyes can be damaged as well.”