Britain will bask in an Indian summer this week with temperatures set to soar to as high as 28C (82F), weather forecasters predict.

High pressure over Europe is forecast to drift northwards, bringing warm southerly winds and sunshine across most parts of the UK until next Sunday.

MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said temperatures would climb from Tuesday with highs of up to 24C expected in parts of south-east England and Lincolnshire.

"At the moment it looks like Friday and Saturday are going to be the warmest days of the week with temperatures locally getting up to as high as 28C in the London area," said forecaster Andy Ratcliffe.

"Most of the UK will be dry, warm and humid with plenty of sunshine all week."

Met Office forecaster Helen Waite agreed the week was going to be "unseasonably warm".

"The high pressure building over the next few days will bring clear skies and sunshine.

"Temperatures will start to rise on Tuesday and continue to do so through the rest of the week as warm air comes up from the south."

Waite said north-west Scotland and Northern Ireland would be the only areas of Britain having unstable weather this week, with some strong winds and showers. However, temperatures were still expected to be slightly higher than average.

The average maximum temperature for September is 19.1C in south-east England.