Thousands flocked to waterfronts and parks in the UK to make the most of the ice-cream-melting Bank Holiday heat as temperatures soared to 73F (23C) in the south.

The country is set for its warmest Easter weekend for 70 years – but April is a notoriously rainy month in Spain, with five days of downpours forecast for Alicante and Murcia.

Things are expected to heat up even more as the holiday weekend continues, with London likely to hit 25C (77F) on Saturday. ADVERTISING

A Met Office forecaster said: ‘It’s going to be dry, bright and sunny for nearly everybody this weekend. Temperatures are expected to reach into the 20s every day of the four-day break. 

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Alex Woolley (left) and Meghan Young, both 22, enjoyed the hot weather on Bournemouth beach today, as shown in this picture taken by a drone

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Lucy Laphan, 21, enjoys an early morning punt down the River Cam through Cambridge as the UK basks in sunshine today

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The Easter heatwave caused thousands to flock to Bournemouth beach today as the holidays get off to a scorching start

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Londoners sunbathed on a patch of grass near the iconic Tower Bridge earlier today as temperatures soared

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But Brits abroad have been complaining about the rain in Spain, with five days of downpours forecast for Alicante and Murcia. Pictured: Valencia

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Pictured: holidaymakers on the promenade in Marbella hide under umbrellas in downpours earlier today

Brits abroad were left moaning about the weather, with one saying they were having some ‘British rain in Spain’

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Tierney Rocks, 17, plays volleyball in the water at Bournemouth beach in warm temperatures on Good Friday today

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A man and woman kick back and bathe in the bank holiday sunshine on a massive deck chair in Brighton today

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A family live out the British bank holiday dream on West Bay on the Dorset coast today

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Large crowds enjoy the sunshine next to the River Thames as the Bank Holiday sunshine beats down on Tower Bridge today  

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Three-year-old Sophia Rickaby plays in a bluebell wood in Hampshire today while enjoying the warm Good Friday weather

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At least 2,000 schools across the country serving 800,000-plus children were shut after ‘doomsday’ snow caused chaos with some areas getting up to ten inches overnight on the coldest night in the UK for seven years.   

Drivers were told to avoid the M3 at all costs as the motorway became ‘impassable’ at points. Basingstoke residents were left stranded on the motorway for hours, with some drivers having to abandon their cars and walk home after three HGV lorries jackknifed in the middle of the road. 

Junctions 6 and 7 southbound were closed with traffic at a complete standstill – but Highways England said that one lane has now been reopened. It tweeted: ‘M3 J6 – J7 westbound Basingstoke, 1 lane is now open but we still have work on-going to get extra lanes open. Long delays from J4 Farnborough.’

Parent Craig Heywood, 29, has been stuck at Junction 6 since 3.30pm this morning trying to pick his son up from nursery.

The father said nursery staff have had to stay late to look after two-year-old Harrison, who’s been worrying why his father still hasn’t arrived.

Mr Heywood, who works at Harwoods Jaguar Land Rover Dealership, said: ‘I left work early today at 3.30pm to make sure I would get to my son’s nursery on time. My work is only 15 minutes from the nursery too.

‘I’ve been stuck here for five hours. I took some bottles of water from work just in case, so I’ve been handing them out to other drivers. As a nation, we’re just not prepared for this weather. Every year it’s the same. I just hope my son’s alright.’ 

Panicked motorist Samantha Smith missed her 7.30pm flight to Cairo after becoming trapped near Heathrow. She tweeted at British Airways: ‘Do you answer your phones? Stuck in snow on M3 how do we let you know we won’t make check in?’ 

Jo Roberts said the motorway was an ‘absolute nightmare’ southbound from Basingstoke with ‘snow on top of black ice’. She said: ‘It’s not been gritted. My partner hasn’t moved for 2 hours. Hope it gets moving soon.’

Jo Roberts said the motorway was an ‘absolute nightmare’ southbound from Basingstoke with ‘snow on top of black ice’. She said: ‘It’s not been gritted. My partner hasn’t moved for 2 hours. Hope it gets moving soon.

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The Met Office has issued an amber warning that carries a potential risk to life as heavy snowfall hit southern England and Wales this evening, with the first sprinkling of snow falling in London.

Transport for London and Network Rail had warned passengers to get home by 9pm as motorists faced potentially deadly conditions this evening, with around 200 motorists stuck on the A30 near Temple, Cornwall.

One stranded driver on the snow covered road has described the conditions as like ‘doomsday.’

Dominic Burton, 26, from Barnstaple, said: ‘I have heard Exeter is clear – it’s like doomsday here, like a zombie movie! I have 60 miles to do and we are only moving at around 20mph.

‘I have just passed around 200 cars trying to go southbound on the A30.’ 

Concerned relatives urged authorities to move faster to clear the roads as darkness fell as elderly drivers, mothers with young children and passengers with medical conditions were stranded from 2.30pm without food or water. 

An ‘intensive effort’ is under way to help stranded motorists, said Chief Inspector Adrian Leisk, head of roads policing across Devon, Cornwall and Dorset.

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The painfully cold weather system that put much of the Midwest into a historic deep freeze lingered on Thursday and continued to break historic records with parts of Illinois and Iowa recording temperatures of -38F and -30F respectively. 

The frigid conditions canceled more than 2,300 flights and over 1,500 delays on Thursday, while the number of deaths blamed on the cold climbed to 13.

Chicago’s temperature dropped to a low of around -21F on Thursday, slightly above the city’s lowest-ever reading of -27F in January 1985. Milwaukee’s low was -25F. Minneapolis recorded -24F, and wind chills were as low as -38F, an improvement from a day earlier. Rockford, Illinois, saw a record low temperature of -31F on Thursday, while Cedar Rapids, Iowa, set a daily record low of -30F.

The extreme cold also settled in over the Northeast on Thursday. In western New York, a storm that dumped up to 20 inches of snow gave way to subzero temperatures and dangerous wind chills. The arctic conditions caused problems from Buffalo to Brooklyn, where about 200 firefighters battling an early morning blaze in a commercial building took turns getting warm on buses. 

The phenomenon caused surreal scenes throughout the region, including Lake Michigan freezing over, parts of Niagara Falls solidifying into frozen stillness and blocks of ice covering the river in downtown Chicago.

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