THIS year's Easter Sunday has been the hottest on record in Wales, the Met Office has said.

Temperatures reached 23C in Ceredigion today (April 21), and in Gwent the Usk weather station recorded highs of 20C.

Met Office forecaster Marco Petagna explained why this year's Easter temperatures were particularly warm.

"We've got high pressure moving at the moment, giving most of the UK a lot of fine weather. This, combined with the fact the high pressure has dominated for the past few days, is allowing the temperatures to heat and build.

"It's allowing some record-breaking temperatures to be set today, and potentially tomorrow, as we are looking at a [UK] high of 25C or 26C."

Mr Petagna suggested the temperatures may also be helped by the fact Easter is a little later in the calendar this year.

"The later in the year that Easter falls, the higher the sun is in the sky and the stronger it is," he added.

The Met Office is forecasting more sunshine on Monday, with some cloudy intervals in the afternoon. Temperatures in Newport could reach 21C.

As with the rest of the long Easter weekend, a high pollen count is forecast for Monday.

The Met Office said dry and sunny conditions in the UK were in stark contrast to parts of the Mediterranean, where there were showers and heavy downpours. Temperatures in Barcelona reached around 17C this weekend.