Getting in the sun while they can: Britons bask in glorious weather ... but SNOW is coming for Easter

• North gets cloudy again Thursday, while the South gets one more day of sun
• Clouds ready to return ... just in time for the weekend, with snow forecast over Easter
• Accidental and deliberate fires continue to wreak havoc as they spread over acres of dry land
• Rivers run dry in Yorkshire as region enters drought alert

By Eddie Wrenn
PUBLISHED: 12:20, 28 March 2012 | UPDATED: 07:27, 29 March 2012

Like many other Britons across the country, Charlotte Bentham made the most of the glorious sunshine yesterday, basking in the blazing heat with an icecream cone.
Lying in a field of stunning red flowers in Stratford Upon Avon, Charlotte was just one of thousands to hit local beauty spots to enjoy the unusually warm March.
But make the most of it while you can - for while many have been soaking up the sun on beaches and parks around the country, as usual the clouds will roll in just in time for the weekend to provide us with a more traditional start to April.


The weather is expected to change as schools break up for Easter with temperatures dipping to 12C and rain showers in the north of England.



Next week the weather is due to be more unsettled with rain and even sleet and snow in the north and overnight frosts.
The Mediterranean-style weather may be good for our collective psyche, but it is not so good for our water-tables and wildlife, with parts of Yorkshire now officially confirmed as suffering from drought.
While photos of the area seem to show members of the public enjoying a pleasant walk through woodland, they are actually walking through a river-bed which is now depleted after a lack of rainfall in the last few months.





The lack of water has led to stocks of drinking water being diverted into East Yorkshire, with Yorkshire Water asking customers to take shorter showers and avoid wasting water.
Met Office spokesman Charles Powell said: 'Wednesday and Thursday most of the UK will see fine and sunny weather with temperatures between 20C and 22C.
'But the high pressure which has been giving us this lovely warm weather will then move to the west so there will be less warm air and more cloud and cooler temperatures.
'By Saturday the temperatures will be down to 12C and 13C. We will still get some bright weather but we will lose the wall-to-wall sunshine we have enjoyed.
Looking ahead, the Met Office predicted an unsettled start to next week with a risk of rain, and potential snowfall over the hills.
Meteogroup forecasters said that most of Britain will have most of Thursday to enjoy the sun, but the North will turn cooler later in the day, and temperatures will cool from their 20C highs by Friday.
A spokesman said: 'The north-west of Scotland will turn increasingly cloudy with a little drizzle at times.
'Elsewhere, it is going to be a dry night with lengthy clear spells. A few mist patches will develop, especially in the south-east and East Anglia.
'Tomorrow it is going to be a cloudy day in north-west Scotland with some patchy drizzle at times.
'Elsewhere, it is going to be another dry and fine day with plenty of sunshine. It is going to be another warm day with temperatures above average for this time of year.
'Friday will be cloudy in Northern Ireland, west Scotland, north-west England and northern Wales with patchy drizzle expected in north-west Scotland and northernmost areas in Northern Ireland.
'Elsewhere, once any early mist patches have lifted, it will be a dry and warm day with lengthy spells of sunshine.
'Saturday will be a rather cloudy day for England with some patchy drizzle at times.
'Northern parts of Scotland will be cloudy with showers, these falling as sleet and snow over high ground.
'Northern Ireland will be dry with variable cloud.
'Wales will see morning drizzle but turning drier and brighter during the afternoon.'
Across the country, the heat has led to grass-fires, as flames - in places thought to be caused by arsonists - spread out of control thanks to dry conditions.
In Newport, South Wales, flames raged across 15 acres of scrubland yesterday, coming just yards from homes.
Firemen battled for more than five hours to control the fire, which is believed to have been started by arsonists near a children’s park.
Residents were forced to use garden hose pipes to keep away the blaze, which at times licked their properties.
Fire service area manager Alan Clark said wildfires were notoriously difficult to control, adding: 'These fires cause devastation to the countryside, wildlife and property.
'They pose a risk to life, both to the public and the firefighters tackling these blazes.'
Each year, there are around 79,000 wildfires in the UK - an average of 216 per day.


Swathes of East and South Yorkshire from Chesterfield up to Scarborough are officially suffering from drought, with areas around Sheffield, Doncaster, Hull and Driffield affected.
The areas join the South East and eastern England in drought, most of which has been affected since earlier this year, although parts of East Anglia have been suffering drought conditions since last summer.
Earlier this month, seven water companies across east and southern England announced hosepipe bans would come into force before Easter in a bid to conserve water supplies in the face of two unusually dry winters.
But while the rivers Don, Rother, Hull and Derwent are at low or very low levels for the time of year, the Environment Agency said public water supplies were unlikely to be affected in the region.
Yorkshire Water - which serves 4.7million customers - said it did not anticipate any restrictions such as hosepipe bans at the moment.

THREE DAY FORECAST

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