Weather experts are predicting Kent will be soaked in sun for up to a fortnight as the spring finally arrives.

The Met Office has forecast seven consecutive days of sun in the county and said temperatures will reach 23C in Canterbury on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the BBC claims temperatures will reach 26C in Gravesend on the same day and predicts the sunny weather will last all the way to Sunday, April 29.

However, it expects temperatures to dip to a fresher 13C by the end of next week.

It has provided welcome relief after three spells of snowy weather in the county since the turn of the year.

The most notable cold snap came from the Beast from the East, a weather front which sent temperatures plummeting to -11C.

John West, an operational meterologist at the Met Office, said: "There is quite a contrast of weather across the UK.

"We have got this deep area of low pressure coming across the Atlantic and that's drawing in some warm air from warmer climates to the South.

"We're probably getting our warm air from somewhere like the Azores Islands.

"While we have some fairly fair weather today we are going to build on those temperatures through the week.

"It will be rather warm for this time of year and a huge contrast to what we've been seeing over the past few weeks where we have been getting cold easterly winds off the North Sea."