Blackpool? Just like Benidorm with sunshine!

And the resort is set to bask under the warm spring rays – after a wash-out Easter holiday and just weeks after the ‘Beast from the east’ saw much of the country blanketed by snow.

The mercury is set to tip 20 degrees Celsius on the Fylde coast, a mere two degrees shy of the popular Spanish resort often called ‘Blackpool with sun’, where tourists will sunbathe in temperatures of around 22 degrees.

Today will mark the first of six days of sun, according to forecasters, but the wind could make it feel cooler.

Meteorologist Alex Burkill said the ‘heatwave’ will be caused by hotter air being dragged up from the south, with temperatures elsewhere reaching 25C by Thursday.

“It is not out of the question that we can get 20C (68F) tomorrow - which I believe would make it the warmest day of the year so far,” he said yesterday.

“On Wednesday it will be mostly dry and rather sunny for most places, but there will be some rain affecting Northern Ireland, Scotland and perhaps some parts of northern England too.

“But for many central and eastern parts of the UK it is going to be a dry and very sunny day and, with that, temperatures creeping up as well.”

Thursday’s warm blast will see parts of the country be hotter than some other destinations, including Malaga at 21C and Athens at 23C.

Mr Burkill said it is “not especially” unusual to see such temperatures: “Quite often we would have already gone above 20C by this time in the year.

“It is quite normal for spring to be like this and to bring some colder spells and some temperatures like this.”

He revealed that the warm and sunny weather looks set to continue into the weekend, but it may be a little cooler, and there could be some rain pushing in by Sunday.

The Royal Horticultural Society said the warm weather after the cold blast could see a ‘short, intense burst of spring flowering’.

Chief horticulturalist Guy Barter said: “I would urge people to get outside into their gardens or visit green spaces this weekend as spring could be over in the blink of an eye and you really don’t want to miss what’s coming.”