Sunseekers in Burton and South Derbyshire are set to bask in temperatures of 22C - as a spring heatwave ends months of cold, rain and snow, say weather forecasters.
The hottest day of the year so far will be tomorrow, Thursday, April 19, will see the area enjoy temperatures higher than the Greek Islands, following one of the longest winters on record.
Warm sunshine and light winds are forecast for April 19, as the area finally prepares to get the sun cream out following a cold and rainswept start to spring.
Anna Bell, managing director at Needwood Ice Cream, which is based in Anslow, said the company was eagerly preparing for its busiest day of the year so far.
Mrs Bell, 34, said: "I am very excited at the prospect of such hot weather and I feel it has been a long time coming. It has been a really hard winter and the weather this time last year was already nice and sunny so we have seen an impact this year.
"It is a great shame that it looks to come out when the kids are back at school, especially in terms of trade but we supply traders who will rely on this footfall so it is good news all around from a business point of view."
"When we start to get busy differs year on year depending on the weather and when Easter has fallen. The earlier Easter is means that there is a greater risk of weather being bad on Bank Holiday.
"Generally though we expect a good uplift at this time of year and we feel really ready for it. We have been working hard building our stocks up.
"As part of the job we chase customers and warn them of the weather forecasts so they can adjust stock accordingly but last Friday we had four or five calls from businesses.
"When the weather has been bad, as soon as the forecast looks good everyone is talking about it which is great for us and means we just have to get ready.
"We jump when the sunshine comes but that is life in the ice cream world."
Mrs Bell said she hoped people saw the good weather as an "excuse to get out and enjoy some ice cream."
"Sadly this year the sunshine has been few and far between so we need to make the most of it.
"We have some new flavours which are proving very popular. Our salted caramel ice cream is going down a storm and people really like our new pink grapefruit sorbet. I am also in the process of creating a stout ice cream so we will see how that goes."
Meteorologist Alex Burkill said the weather will be "turning warmer for a little time" as a result of hotter air being dragged up from the south.
He said: "Thursday is probably going to be the warmest day - we could get highs of 24C or 25Cin the South East.
"Apart from a bit of showery rain across parts of Scotland perhaps, Thursday is looking like a dry and sunny day with temperatures quite widely getting above 20C."
With average maximum temperatures for April across the UK around 11.5C, Mr Burkill said it will be a "good 10C above average."
Thursday's warm blast will see parts of the country hotter than some European destinations, including Malaga in Spain at 21C and Athens in Greece at 23C.
Mr Burkill said it is "not especially" unusual to see such temperatures. "Quite often we would have already gone above 20C by this time in the year.
"It is quite normal for spring to be like this and to bring some colder spells and some temperatures like this."
The warm and sunny weather looks set to continue into the weekend, but may be a little cooler, with some rain pushing in from the west by Sunday.
