Britons could experience the hottest Easter Sunday on record after the warmest day of the year so far on Saturday, according to the Met Office.

The temperature hit 25.5C in Gosport, Hampshire, at approximately 3.30pm yesterday, with temperatures around 10C higher in many places compared with the average for this time of year.

And temperatures are expected to climb even with highs of 26C expected on Easter Sunday and 27C on Monday, making the sunniest spots in the UK warmer than most of Europe, Morocco and Algeria.

The record for Easter weather was set on Holy Saturday in 1949, when a temperature of 29.4C was recorded in Camden Square, north London.

The hottest Easter Sunday on record for the UK is 25.3C, reached in Solent in Hampshire in April 2011.

Places you won't believe are in England Show all 12 1 /12 Places you won't believe are in England Places you won't believe are in England Minack Theatre, Porthcurno, Cornwall the Minack Theatre could have been hewn by ancient civilisations but in reality was built by a local theatre-loving woman, Rowena Cade, in the 1930s. Visit Britain Places you won't believe are in England Pedn Vounder Beach, Cornwall This sweeping beach with its turquoise water and white sand could be a Greek or Caribbean island, but is actually at the very tip of Cornwall. Visit Britain Places you won't believe are in England Cheddar Gorge, Somerset Cheddar Gorge is a natural rock formation in the Mendip Hills and is Britain’s highest inland limestone cliffs, rising 450ft. Visit Britain Places you won't believe are in England Rathfinny Wines, Alfriston, Sussex Sussex is perhaps not the first place you would associate with wine production, but this vineyard in the South Downs produces exemplary English sparkling wines thanks to a lucky combination of chalk soil, temperate climate and south facing slopes. Visit Britain Places you won't believe are in England Wastwater, Lake District, Cumbria This spectacular lake is half a mile wide and 260 feet deep, the deepest of all the lakes in the area. Visit Britain Places you won't believe are in England St Ives harbour, Cornwall Although this may look somewhere in the Mediterranean, it's actually in Cornwall's artistic hub, St Ives. Getty Places you won't believe are in England The Roman Baths, Bath, Somerset Set alongside a temple dedicated to the healing goddess Sulis-Minerva, the baths now form one of the world's best-preserved ancient Roman spas, and are encircled by beautiful 18th- and 19th-century buildings. Visit Britain Places you won't believe are in England The Painted Hall, Greenwich, London The Painted Hall at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich reopened in March after a two year conservation project to bring its magnificent ceiling back to life. The room has been referred to as the Sistine Chapel of the UK. Visit Britain Places you won't believe are in England Lavender fields, Gloucestershire It might look like the rolling hills of Provence, but these lavender fields are actually in Gloucestershire. Visit Britain Places you won't believe are in England Bowfell mountain, Lake District, Cumbria A casual observer could mistake the snowy peaks of Bowfell mountain for somewhere in the Alps. Visit Britain Places you won't believe are in England Cliftonwood, Bristol, North Somerset Just outside the centre of Bristol is Cliftonwood, an up-market enclave where many of the houses are painted in bright colours. Visit Britain Places you won't believe are in England Royal Pavilion, Brighton, Sussex This building wouldn’t look out of place in India, but was actually built as a seaside retreat for George, Prince of Wales, later George IV, in the late 18th and early 19th century. Visit Britain

The Solent also lays claim to the hottest Easter Monday with 24C recorded, also in 2011.

Helen Roberts, a Met Office forecaster, said the Solent's records were the "ones to keep an eye on and could be broken".

She also described temperatures as “way above average” for this time of year and said that most Britons are enjoying dry, sunny and very warm conditions under fine clear skies.

And Met Office meteorologist Marco Petagna said that Easter Sunday could set regional record temperatures in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

The 20.7C enjoyed in Aboyne, Scotland, in 2015, along with 21.6C in Brynamman, Wales, in 1984 and 19.4C in Armagh in Northern Ireland in 1924 are the top temperatures recorded on Easter Sunday for those regions.

The hot weather is thought to have caused a large fire on Ilkley Moor in West Yorkshire on Saturday evening.

Fire crews from across Yorkshire responded to the blaze across 50 acres of moorland and used beaters, leaf blowers and portable pumps in an attempt to extinguish the blaze.

More than 70 firefighter were still at the scene as of Sunday morning with police deployed to keep people away from the area.

Hay fever suffers have also been warned of a “deadly pollen bomb” which could put people with asthma at risk of a potentially life-threatening attack.

The pollen count is forecast as high for most places until Tuesday and in the southeast until Wednesday.

Tulips bloom in Britain's spring heat Show all 13 1 /13 Tulips bloom in Britain's spring heat Tulips bloom in Britain's spring heat Tulips bloom in a field near King's Lynn in Norfolk PA Tulips bloom in Britain's spring heat This particular field grows 37 varieties of Tulip and supplies supermarkets with more than 20 million of the flowers per year PA Tulips bloom in Britain's spring heat A child stops to smell the blooming tulips in a field near King's Lynn in Norfolk PA Tulips bloom in Britain's spring heat Tulips bloom in a field near King's Lynn in Norfolk PA Tulips bloom in Britain's spring heat Tulips in bloom by the Queen Victoria Memorial in London Reuters Tulips bloom in Britain's spring heat Tulips bloom in a field near King's Lynn in Norfolk PA Tulips bloom in Britain's spring heat Tulips bloom in a field near King's Lynn in Norfolk PA Tulips bloom in Britain's spring heat Tulips in bloom by the Queen Victoria Memorial in London Reuters Tulips bloom in Britain's spring heat Tulips bloom in a field near King's Lynn in Norfolk PA Tulips bloom in Britain's spring heat Tulips bloom in a field near King's Lynn in Norfolk PA Tulips bloom in Britain's spring heat Tulips bloom in a field near King's Lynn in Norfolk PA Tulips bloom in Britain's spring heat Tulips bloom in a field near King's Lynn in Norfolk PA Tulips bloom in Britain's spring heat Tulips bloom in a field near King's Lynn in Norfolk PA

Sonia Munde, of Asthma UK, warned sufferers to take hay fever and prescribed medicines and to keep their blue reliever inhaler with them at all times in case of an emergency.

This year, Easter falls on the latest date since 2011, meaning that warm weather is far more likely that those years when Easter falls in March. It will not be this late again until 2030.

Bookmaker Ladbrokes has cut odds from 5/6 to just 8/11 for this year to see the hottest Easter Sunday on record.

Alex Apati of Ladbrokes said: "Brits have been treated to a scorching start to the Easter weekend and things will only get hotter if the latest odds are anything to go by."

The warm weather is expected to continue until Tuesday with highs of 25-26C, according to Met Office meteorologist Marco Petagna.

Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

However, from Wednesday onwards heavy thundery rain will move upwards from the south with temperatures cooling off, but still above average for this time of year.

Mr Petagna said that some parts of the country can expect thunderstorm warnings to be issued from Wednesday.