By . Ben Spencer . PUBLISHED: . 06:31 EST, 5 March 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 21:03 EST, 5 March 2014 . This stunning frosty dawn may be nature’s final curtain to the dismal winter endured across the country. But the beautiful red skies that greeted early birds in Wiltshire yesterday also heralded weather to put a spring in your step – with temperatures set to soar to 18C (64F) in the next few days. For the first time this year it will be ice cream weather, as parts of Britain will be warmer than Greece.A high pressure system dragging in winds from the southwest means  the mercury may climb to double the average March temperature of 9C (48F). Chilly start: Some areas, including Malmesbury in Wiltshire, were covered in frost this morning, but the mercury is set to rise as the week goes on . Blossom: A squirrel picks a flower in London's Hyde Park where spring flowers are beginning to come through . The squirrel nibbles at a flower bud like it is a nut as the sunny spells descend on the capital, marking the start of a warm March . Family: A Mother and her daughter play in the grass. The weather is expected to remained settled for the next 24 hours before the temperature rises on Friday . Still: Crowds walking around the gardens of Sheffield Park in East Sussex enjoy the uncharacteristically warm weather . Forecasts for Sunday put Athens at 10C (50F), Ibiza at 16C (61F) and Istanbul at 7C (45F). The Met Office said: ‘Warmer, drier weather is on the way for parts of the country. ‘In . the South high pressure will dominate, bringing dry weather for the . weekend, with the best of the weather in the South East.’ Northwest England and Scotland, however, will be cloudy with patchy showers. Clear: People flock to Brighton Beach in Sussex and set up deckchairs to lie back and enjoy the blue skies . A crowd builds up along the promenade as the sun comes out  . Some had to wear sunglasses to shield their . eyes from the rays while one man opted to sleep . Pier: A mother holds her child as they relax on the pebbled beach of Weston Super Mare. The conditions on the Somerset coast are a stark contrast to the gale-force winds and rain experienced in previous months . View: As the week progresses, the deck chairs are likely to fill up as the sunshine becomes permanent . Sandcastle: Two-year-old Faith Bristow makes full use of her bucket and spade for the first time this year on Bournemouth beach . 'I need more sand': Ashleigh Cole, three, travelled with her family from Portsmouth to Bournemouth to enjoy the seaside . Fetching building material: Faith Topping, three, fills a bag up with sand ready to build a sand castle on the Dorset beach . Clear skies: People line the promenade in Brighton with deckchairs while a lawnmower basks in the sunshine outside the Houses of Parliament . Spring officially starts on March 20, but there are already abundant signs that winter is over. Daffodils and crocuses are in full bloom and spring blossom is on trees across the country. Temperatures . reached 12C (54F) in Bournemouth, Dorset, yesterday, where people took . advantage of clear skies to head to the seafront. The seven-mile . promenade was busy with people enjoying the warm weather. John . Lee, forecaster with MeteoGroup, said: ‘The weather will be getting . much better into the weekend. The south of England will be somewhat . drier than we’ve  had recently. ‘High pressure is expected to dominate through the start of next week, with sunshine around and light winds.’ Forage: A squirrel perches in between newly blossomed daffodils in St James' Park, Central London . It ventures out onto the grass to enjoy the sunshine as the capital basks in early spring sunshine . Snap: A photographer takes a picture of her friend as they crouch among the spring flowers in St James' Park, London . Stop and look: Three people admire the lake in the middle of Sheffield Park in East Sussex and look at the tree which is beginning to retain some of its leaves . A woman stands above a waterfall in the East Sussex park. Parts of the South will experience higher than average temperatures for March over the weekend with betting companies suggesting Sunday could be the hottest day of the year so far . After . the wettest winter in 250 years, flood water levels that have . devastated large parts of the country are gradually easing, the . Environment Agency said last night. A . severe flood warning for part of the Somerset Levels, in place since . February 5, was downgraded by the agency yesterday after flood waters in . the area dropped. Just one severe flood warning remains in place, near Burrowbridge in Somerset. A huge pumping operation continues, but drier weather means flood levels are expected to fall even further over the week. Improvement: The Met Office has predicted the weather will be exceptionally mild for this time of year as the storms look set to be swept aside . Small . businesses are being blacklisted by insurance companies because they . are not covered by the Government’s agreement with the industry to help . flood-prone areas. The . Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said its members are being hit by . ‘outrageous’ quotes for renewal of insurance policies – with some being . turned away. The FSB is . calling on the Government and the insurance industry to ‘look again’ at . the exclusion of small firms from the Flood Re agreement, which only . covers domestic insurance. On the horizon: The sunrise over Buxton in the Peak District is a sign the weather could be improving over the next few days, with a warm weekend predicted . Glorious: The countryside in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, was covered by clouds and early spring sunshine this morning. Some parts of the UK will experience temperatures higher than the South of France and parts of the Greek Islands . The sun peaks over the horizon at the South Downs National Park in Hampshire, surrounded by firey skies . Glimmer: Rowers on the River Cam in Cambridge this morning during a frosty sunrise. Weather forecasters say the mercury could rise to double the March average at the end of this week . Rays: A woman wears sunglasses as she takes her two dogs out for a run in Ferry Meadows, Peterborough . Laid back: This Otter is already taking advantage of the milder weather while enjoying a swim at the British Wildlife Centre in Lingfield, Surrey . Lapping it up: With a smile across its face, the animal basks in the spring sunshine, which has seemed a long way off during the storms that have battered Britain since the new year . Playful: Lydia, aged three, carries a basket of daffodils while running around with a lamb at Pennywell Farm, South Devon . Temperatures will average in the mid-teens in places such as South Devon, but will increase as the weekend goes on . A Cambridge rowing crew passes moored boats on the River Cam as the sun shines through the branches of a leafless tree . Brave: A jogger and a cyclist on the banks of the River Cam cross paths as they venture out into the early-morning cold. As the temperatures rise over the next few days, frosty conditions could be few and far between over the coming weeks . Brisk: A cyclist wearing a woolly hat and scarf listens to music on the banks of the River Cam . Mist descended over Buster Hill in Hampshire this morning as some parts of the UK experienced a foggy start . The chimneys of houses in Petersfield, Hampshire, are only barely visible in the early morning weather . Chilly: Hills in Somerset this morning were blanketed in sheet of frost, but the temperatures will rise as the day goes on . Bright start: As the sun rose higher in the sky, the cold morning began to clear .
Parts of the country could bask in spring sunshine this weekend because of a wave of high pressure .
Will be hotter than the south of France and areas of the Greek Islands as a period of settled weather begins .
Sunday is likely to be the hottest day of the year so far, a relief to those who have dealt with floods' aftermath .
By . Ben Spencer . PUBLISHED: . 06:31 EST, 5 March 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 21:03 EST, 5 March 2014 . This stunning frosty dawn may be nature’s final curtain to the dismal winter endured across the country. But the beautiful red skies that greeted early birds in Wiltshire yesterday also heralded weather to put a spring in your step – with temperatures set to soar to 18C (64F) in the next few days. For the first time this year it will be ice cream weather, as parts of Britain will be warmer than Greece.A high pressure system dragging in winds from the southwest means  the mercury may climb to double the average March temperature of 9C (48F). Chilly start: Some areas, including Malmesbury in Wiltshire, were covered in frost this morning, but the mercury is set to rise as the week goes on . Blossom: A squirrel picks a flower in London's Hyde Park where spring flowers are beginning to come through . The squirrel nibbles at a flower bud like it is a nut as the sunny spells descend on the capital, marking the start of a warm March . Family: A Mother and her daughter play in the grass. The weather is expected to remained settled for the next 24 hours before the temperature rises on Friday . Still: Crowds walking around the gardens of Sheffield Park in East Sussex enjoy the uncharacteristically warm weather . Forecasts for Sunday put Athens at 10C (50F), Ibiza at 16C (61F) and Istanbul at 7C (45F). The Met Office said: ‘Warmer, drier weather is on the way for parts of the country. ‘In . the South high pressure will dominate, bringing dry weather for the . weekend, with the best of the weather in the South East.’ Northwest England and Scotland, however, will be cloudy with patchy showers. Clear: People flock to Brighton Beach in Sussex and set up deckchairs to lie back and enjoy the blue skies . A crowd builds up along the promenade as the sun comes out  . Some had to wear sunglasses to shield their . eyes from the rays while one man opted to sleep . Pier: A mother holds her child as they relax on the pebbled beach of Weston Super Mare. The conditions on the Somerset coast are a stark contrast to the gale-force winds and rain experienced in previous months . View: As the week progresses, the deck chairs are likely to fill up as the sunshine becomes permanent . Sandcastle: Two-year-old Faith Bristow makes full use of her bucket and spade for the first time this year on Bournemouth beach . 'I need more sand': Ashleigh Cole, three, travelled with her family from Portsmouth to Bournemouth to enjoy the seaside . Fetching building material: Faith Topping, three, fills a bag up with sand ready to build a sand castle on the Dorset beach . Clear skies: People line the promenade in Brighton with deckchairs while a lawnmower basks in the sunshine outside the Houses of Parliament . Spring officially starts on March 20, but there are already abundant signs that winter is over. Daffodils and crocuses are in full bloom and spring blossom is on trees across the country. Temperatures . reached 12C (54F) in Bournemouth, Dorset, yesterday, where people took . advantage of clear skies to head to the seafront. The seven-mile . promenade was busy with people enjoying the warm weather. John . Lee, forecaster with MeteoGroup, said: ‘The weather will be getting . much better into the weekend. The south of England will be somewhat . drier than we’ve had recently. ‘High pressure is expected to dominate through the start of next week, with sunshine around and light winds.’ Forage: A squirrel perches in between newly blossomed daffodils in St James' Park, Central London . It ventures out onto the grass to enjoy the sunshine as the capital basks in early spring sunshine . Snap: A photographer takes a picture of her friend as they crouch among the spring flowers in St James' Park, London . Stop and look: Three people admire the lake in the middle of Sheffield Park in East Sussex and look at the tree which is beginning to retain some of its leaves . A woman stands above a waterfall in the East Sussex park. Parts of the South will experience higher than average temperatures for March over the weekend with betting companies suggesting Sunday could be the hottest day of the year so far . After . the wettest winter in 250 years, flood water levels that have . devastated large parts of the country are gradually easing, the . Environment Agency said last night. A . severe flood warning for part of the Somerset Levels, in place since . February 5, was downgraded by the agency yesterday after flood waters in . the area dropped. Just one severe flood warning remains in place, near Burrowbridge in Somerset. A huge pumping operation continues, but drier weather means flood levels are expected to fall even further over the week. Improvement: The Met Office has predicted the weather will be exceptionally mild for this time of year as the storms look set to be swept aside . Small . businesses are being blacklisted by insurance companies because they . are not covered by the Government’s agreement with the industry to help . flood-prone areas. The . Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said its members are being hit by . ‘outrageous’ quotes for renewal of insurance policies – with some being . turned away. The FSB is . calling on the Government and the insurance industry to ‘look again’ at . the exclusion of small firms from the Flood Re agreement, which only . covers domestic insurance. On the horizon: The sunrise over Buxton in the Peak District is a sign the weather could be improving over the next few days, with a warm weekend predicted . Glorious: The countryside in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, was covered by clouds and early spring sunshine this morning. Some parts of the UK will experience temperatures higher than the South of France and parts of the Greek Islands . The sun peaks over the horizon at the South Downs National Park in Hampshire, surrounded by firey skies . Glimmer: Rowers on the River Cam in Cambridge this morning during a frosty sunrise. Weather forecasters say the mercury could rise to double the March average at the end of this week . Rays: A woman wears sunglasses as she takes her two dogs out for a run in Ferry Meadows, Peterborough . Laid back: This Otter is already taking advantage of the milder weather while enjoying a swim at the British Wildlife Centre in Lingfield, Surrey . Lapping it up: With a smile across its face, the animal basks in the spring sunshine, which has seemed a long way off during the storms that have battered Britain since the new year . Playful: Lydia, aged three, carries a basket of daffodils while running around with a lamb at Pennywell Farm, South Devon . Temperatures will average in the mid-teens in places such as South Devon, but will increase as the weekend goes on . A Cambridge rowing crew passes moored boats on the River Cam as the sun shines through the branches of a leafless tree . Brave: A jogger and a cyclist on the banks of the River Cam cross paths as they venture out into the early-morning cold. As the temperatures rise over the next few days, frosty conditions could be few and far between over the coming weeks . Brisk: A cyclist wearing a woolly hat and scarf listens to music on the banks of the River Cam . Mist descended over Buster Hill in Hampshire this morning as some parts of the UK experienced a foggy start . The chimneys of houses in Petersfield, Hampshire, are only barely visible in the early morning weather . Chilly: Hills in Somerset this morning were blanketed in sheet of frost, but the temperatures will rise as the day goes on . Bright start: As the sun rose higher in the sky, the cold morning began to clear .
weather to put a spring in your step – with ‘In . the South high pressure will dominate, Parts of the South will experience higher than with betting companies suggesting Sunday could be the hottest day of the year so far . After . the that have . devastated large parts of the country spring sunshine this morning. Some parts of the South of France and parts of the Greek Islands .