After a brief respite with blue skies in parts of the UK, it's back to clouds and rain today while Europe continues to bask in early spring sunshine.

As temperatures return to around average for the time of year here, they remain above average in western Europe, particularly in France where it almost felt like summer on Wednesday.

The cause? High pressure over eastern Europe is meeting lows moving over the UK and Ireland.

A south-westerly flow developed between a low-pressure system over the Atlantic and a high-pressure system over north-eastern Europe, bringing warm air from North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula to western Europe.

New temperature records were set in large parts of France. Around 140 locations saw record temperatures for February, since measurements began for the month.

Temperatures ranged between 20 and 25 degrees Celsius across much of the country. In south-western France, foehn effects through the Pyrenees also led to summer temperatures close to 30 degrees.