Scotland has enjoyed its warmest Easter Monday on record.

A top temperature of 24.2C was recorded at Kinlochewe in Wester Ross at 4.10pm.

It marked a new temperature record for an Easter Monday in Scotland – and it was also Scotland’s warmest day of the year so far, the Met Office confirmed.

It meant Scotland was hotter than cities such as Madrid, Rome and Athens, on Monday.

The high beat Scotland’s previous Easter Monday record of 21.4C at Culzean Castle on the Ayrshire coast in 2014.

Other high temperatures were recorded around Scotland on Monday, with the mercury hitting 23.7C at Achnagart in the north west Highlands, and 23.5C in Kinloss, Moray.

The central belt, too, enjoyed similarly warm temperatures, with 23C recorded in Glasgow and 22.1C in Edinburgh, the Met Office confirmed.

The new high came as the other three UK nations also saw their warmest Easter Monday on record.

Spring Weather Apr 22nd 2019
Zoe Beatson,11, cooling off in the Ross Fountain in Edinburgh’s Princes Street Gardens (Jane Barlow/PA)

Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland had earlier enjoyed their warmest Easter Sunday on April 21, with temperatures then reaching 23.4C at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.

Met Office meteorologist Alex Burkill said Tuesday could be another fine day in parts of Scotland.

He said: “There may be one or two showers in the far west and it may be a bit cloudier than today, but we could still get highs of 23C, possibly even 24C, in western Scotland.

“Eastern Scotland is going to be a bit fresher, with temperatures in some places getting highs of 12C or 13C, so there will be a bit of a contrast in temperatures across Scotland.

“Thereafter we see some cloud and a bit of rain on Wednesday and then we see some thundery showers, perhaps, as we go through Thursday into Friday. It will turn increasingly windy as we go to the weekend.”