Northern Ireland is set to be as hot as Corfu this week on the first official day of spring

The temperature is predicted to match that on the popular Greek island on Thursday.

On that day, March 21, the forecast is for a maximum of 16 Celsius (61 Fahrenheit) in both Corfu and in parts of the west of the province, such as Castlederg in Tyrone and St Angelo in Fermanagh.​

Thursday marks the spring equinox, coming three weeks after the meteorological start of spring, which is March 1.

Temperatures could be even higher in the south of England, 19C, which is hotter than expected in Ibiza.

Other parts of Northern Ireland, while not so hot, will nevertheless enjoy one of the warmest days of the year, with 15C expected in a range of places including Magilligan, Portstewart, Aldergrove and Killowen in Co Down.

It comes after a six-day spell of plenty of sunshine and above average temperatures in NI, which was the warmest place in the UK again yesterday (Sunday), albeit only rising to 12.3 Celsius in Helen’s Bay, just as it was the warmest on Thursday and Friday, reaching only 11 Celsius in locations including Armagh, then again on Saturday with 13C at Killowen. It was sunnier on Thursday and Friday than anywhere in England, with up to eight hours of sunshine at a time of year when NI only gets about 11.5 hours of daylight. Saturday was also sunny, with almost seven hours in Magilligan – but parts of England and Scotland had more than this.

Ironically, today, St Patrick’s Day, with so many festivities and events, is the only day that is expected to be largely cloudy in a 10-day sunny spell from last Tuesday to this coming Thursday. Tomorrow (Tuesday) and Wednesday are expected to be mostly sunny.

There is a further quirk to this unusually long sunny spell: it comes soon after NI had an exceptionally long grey spell last month, one of the longest on record. There was an 11-day period when some weather stations recorded less than half an hour of total sunshine.

The forecast of 19C (66F) in southern England on Thursday is eight degrees warmer than the average for this time of year, Met Office meteorologist Becky Mitchell said. This is estimated to be hotter than Ibiza, which is forecast to have highs of 17C on Thursday, and Corfu with forecasted highs of 16C.

The warmest air will be across southern parts of the UK, according to Ms Mitchell.

She said: “Parts of the South East, across the Midlands will be the warmest spots on Wednesday and then on Thursday that warmth travels a bit further north so it's going to feel pretty warm across southern Scotland, Northern Ireland and the whole of England and Wales.

“There's really just northern Scotland that will keep hold of the colder weather though the middle of the week.”

She added: “We're expecting quite a lot of dry weather, increasing amounts of sunshine as we head through the next few days. By Wednesday, we're looking at highs of about 17C in the south. And then on Thursday, we could get as high as 19C.”

But while this week is promising warmer temperatures, the start of the week will still feel chilly with some overnight frost, the forecaster said.

“So the temperatures we have got currently are around average, which is about 10C. But we've also got quite a chilly wind at the moment, so it's making it feel even colder.

“But by the time we get to Wednesday and Thursday, temperatures will be about eight degrees above average in some places.

“The spring equinox will coincide with some nice warm weather, definitely feeling spring-like.”

This is due to a large area of high pressure, which tends to bring dry and sunny weather.