THIS spring looks set to be one of the hottest and driest since records began nearly 400 years ago, forecasters said today.

And more warm, dry sunny weather is on the way for Huddersfield for the rest of this week.

According to figures for March, April and May so far, parts of England saw an average temperature of 10.3°C (50.5°F), the highest since monthly records began in 1659.

The temperature for the whole of Britain was 9.2°C (48.6°F), the highest since 1910, the Met Office said. The previous top figure was in 2007 when the average was 9.05°C (48.3°F).

Figures for May and the regions will be finalised later today.

Parts of the UK are also on course for one of the driest springs on record, with England only getting 36% of average rainfall.

Yorkshire has been one of the driest regions and levels in Pennine reservoirs have fallen. They currently stand at 75% full.

But Yorkshire Water is still confident it can avoid water restrictions, by taking water into the supply system from reservoirs, rivers and boreholes and with customers using water carefully.

Huddersfield was set to see better weather moving in for the rest of the week.

Today is likely to see sunny spells, with temperatures up to 18 deg Celsius. But Thursday, Friday and Saturday are expected to be warm, dry and very sunny, with temperatures up to 23°C – or 73° F – which is as warm as some Mediterranean resorts.

Michael Dukes, forecast manager from MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said: “We think provisionally it’s going to have just pipped 1893 for the warmest spring on record across England and Wales, when the average temperature was 10.2°C (50.4°F).

“That spring was in some ways similar to this in terms of low rainfall in the south and east. In the east of London in Mile End that year there were 73 consecutive days without rain, the longest rainless spell on record.”

This spring the South East has received 25mm (1in) of rain, he said, less than half the average, and Cambridge only 15mm (0.6in).

The Environment Agency has expressed concern over low river levels and has stepped up monitoring of waterways to assess the impact on wildlife.

The driest area has been East Anglia, which saw only 13% of average rainfall this spring, according to Met Office data.

In contrast, areas of north and west Scotland have seen higher than average rainfall.