Weather in east of England to go 'from winter to summer' in 48 hours - when is the warmth coming?

Parker's Piece in Cambridge - a picture of early summer. Credit: Martin Casey

Unseasonably cold winds have been pinning back the temperatures across the East coast of Britain for the past three weeks - but that is about to change, and fast.

By the weekend it could feel very different, with temperatures touching as high as 28C.

We are used to an east-west split in our weather but for much of May and the first part of June it has been the wrong way round.

Usually high temperatures with the clearer skies occur across eastern sides of the country, but for nearly a month the west has been faring best.

However, as we move towards the weekend that is set to change with temperatures in the mid to high twenties - for a few days at least.

Low pressure to the south will bring a change in the wind direction Credit: ITV Weather

As low pressure pushes in from the southwest, a storm system currently impacting the Canary Islands will shift the blocking high over the UK towards the east.

This subtle shift will be enough to change the wind from a northeasterly, to a southeasterly bringing a tropical continental airmass to the UK.

This will mean warm humid air from the continent will flood in across all areas, especially so across the East of England where temperatures at the coast have been a mere 13C for the past few weeks.

By the end of the week, the warmer air across the west will drift eastwards.

By the weekend we tap into the heat over the continent, leading to highs for the south and east of the UK possibly at 28-29C (82-84F) - making it the warmest day of the year so far.

For the east of England temperatures of around 27C can be expected, but it is not plain sailing for everyone.

Forecast temperatures on Saturday for the East of England Credit: Forecast temperatures on Saturday for the East of England

The area of low pressure will help to bring something warmer but also with the humid air comes the risk of some thundery showers.

At the moment the detail on this is not clear. However, if they do occur they'll be heavy, thundery and slow-moving possibly bringing a large amount of water in a short space of time.

But as we know with thunderstorms, some will see them and some will miss them altogether.

It will be the first significant warm spell the east of the country will have seen this year.

So remember, the UV levels will be high to very high.

Ensure you've got something to protect your skin, but most of all enjoy some welcomed warmer weather - at last!

Get the latest ITV Weather forecast for the East of England here