Hottest day of year as South hits 20C on spring equinox

Britain is enjoying its hottest day of the year so far as temperatures exceeded 20C on the spring equinox.

- ANDY GREGORY

The mercury hit 20.6C in Northolt, west London, reaching higher than the previously warmest temperature so far of 2025 – a reading of 19.7C in Crosby, Merseyside, on 9 March.

The temperature coincided with the spring equinox yesterday, which saw generally dry and fine weather with plenty of sunny spells.

The Met Office said images show “plenty of blue skies across the UK, although high cloud in the west is making the sunshine hazy here” and “in the sunshine across the South temperatures have already reached 20C in a few spots”.

The highest recorded UK spring equinox temperature was 21.5C in 1972. Meteorological spring always starts on 1 March, while astronomical spring – or the equinox – begins around 20 March each year.