February’s weather is expected to remain warmer than average across Britain after a mild beginning to the month, according to the Met Office.

A reading of 17.5C in Rhyl, north east Wales, on Friday was the highest so far this month and the fourth warmest February temperature since 2008.

Meteorologist Helen Roberts, from the Met Office, said on Sunday the warmer-than-average weather is expected to continue into next week.

“It does look like we will continue to see temperatures above average for the time of year,” she said.

“We did have a particularly warm spell in the last part of the week but overall so far this month temperatures have on average been above normal – about 1.6 degrees above average across the UK.”

The February average is 8.2C, compared to 9.8C so far this year.

The highest temperature recorded for the month was 19.7C in Greenwich, east London, in 1998.

Ms Roberts added: “It will vary day to day but generally speaking the south east corner of the country will tend to see the best of the sunshine.

“There’s some rain and showers in the forecast. We have got showers for various parts of the country tomorrow, the North West particularly, but also some showers in the South East.”

Monday morning will be mostly cloudy with a chance of some sunny spells in the North East in the afternoon.

Tuesday could be much brighter for eastern parts of the country, the Met Office predicts.

The unseasonably mild weather saw the warmest Valentine’s Day in more than 20 years on Thursday with a maximum of 16.1C recorded in the Welsh town of Bala, Gwynedd.