It has been a long, cold winter but the weather in finally looking up – with temperatures in York nearing those in the Mediterranean next week.

The week will start off warm on Monday with sunny spells and temperatures peaking at 14C. It will be breezy with the odd shower.

Tuesday will remain a bit windy and cloudy, but temperatures will start to climb.

However, from Wednesday it could be time to get out your shorts and sunglasses, with fine, sunny and warm weather forecast.

According to the Met Office, temperatures will rise to a high of 19C on Wednesday before peaking at 21C on Thursday – that’s warmer than Valencia and Barcelona.

It will stay warm for the rest of the week, with highs of 18C on Friday and 16C on Saturday.