Today’s temperature in St James’s Park exceeds the previous record of 20.8 C (69.4 F) set in London on March 23 and in Cornwall on March 25. The temperature is likely to rise further – possibly to 23 C (73.4 F), the Met Office added. Friday sunshine is not limited to the capital, however, with high altitudes also in the north of England and Scotland. Read more: Everything you need to know amid fears of road and rail chaos Picture: Traffic jam on the M3 near Egham, Surrey on Friday In anticipation of the first weekend of the unrestricted Easter holiday for COVID, families were warned of traffic delays, train, ferry and airport disruptions as they planned their getaways. AA forecasts 27.6 million car trips over the weekend, with motorists required to get in the car on Saturday rather than Friday. RAC’s Rod Dennis said: “While many of the country’s major roads seem to be moving quite freely at the moment, Easter getaway traffic is starting to increase in some places and this is likely to continue throughout the day.” So far the traffic has been heavier on the M20 in Kent today, following the suspension of P&O ships between Dover and Calais all weekend. A truck that overturned was reversing on the M6 in Greater Manchester, while a heavy traffic jam occurred on the M25 near Heathrow Airport. Increased traffic to the southwest has caused long queues on the M4 and M5 to the south, the RAC said. Picture: Bluebells in Wanstead Park, East London, on Good Friday There may also be queues around Stansted and Gatwick airports, as engineering work over the weekend means buses are replacing trains on London routes. Trains are canceled on the West Central Line between London Euston and Milton Keynes. Aviation data company Cirium said 9,212 flights with 1.6 million seats are scheduled to depart from UK airports between Good Friday and Easter Monday – 78% of the total for Easter 2019. The busiest day will be today, when about 2,430 flights will depart. However, families could face disappointment as airlines continue to be forced to cancel flights due to staff illness related to COVID.
