After a chilly start to the month Britain can look forward to "ice cream weather" in the week ahead, a forecaster has said.

Many motorists awoke to find their car windows frosted over as overnight temperatures dropped below zero across the country this week.

Now warmer winds are bringing weather more typical of May, with the mercury predicted to pass 20C in some places by the middle of next week.

Southern and eastern England are expected to see the best conditions, but temperatures will improve throughout the UK and over the weekend there will be highs of around 16-17C and the weather will continue to get warmer after that.

Rachel Vince, a forecaster with MeteoGroup UK, the weather division of the Press Association, said: "By Wednesday to Thursday, daytime temperatures could be into the low 20s.

"It will be fine and settled with some nice long sunny days. It's almost ice cream weather, like we had in April.

"There's a general pattern of temperatures picking up across the UK. It will be noticeably milder for everyone."

After an all-too-brief sunny spell in April, Britain has shivered in unseasonably cold conditions so far this month.

North-westerly winds have brought cold air from the Arctic - as well as the volcanic ash clouds from Iceland that grounded many flights and temperatures have been 2C to 4C below the average for this time of year, plunging as low as minus 6C in Altnaharra in the Scotland Highlands on Tuesday night.

The wind is now coming from the west and south-west, bringing milder air from across the Atlantic, as well as improving temperatures, this should mean less disruption to air schedules as the volcanic ash cloud will be blown in the opposite direction.