Much of Britain is expected to be graced with an unusual spell of sunshine later this week, forecasters said.

Sun worshippers seeking autumn rays will enjoy unseasonably warm temperatures with the mercury set to peak at 22C on Friday.

People in the north east of England and Yorkshire will enjoy a respite from the downpours - they have already seen the average rainfall for October.

Aisling Creevey, forecaster for MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said: "There is a warm front moving across the country on Friday. There will be cloud for a while and some showers but it will be unseasonably warm.

"The maximum temperature in central London will be 22C and northern areas should peak at 18C. In Scotland there is a maximum of 16C and Wales is looking at 21C so we should have some very nice autumn weather."

Ms Creevey said the warm, dry weather should continue into Saturday.

She said: "It looks completely dry on Saturday. We are expecting all this warm air from the continent which should be nice.

"There is going to be some mist and fog in the morning - particularly in coastal areas of the north east of England and eastern Scotland, where it might take some time to clear.

"Southern England will have the best of the sunshine."

On Sunday temperatures are expected to peak at 18C in London and Wales.