IT has been the warmest April on record in Worcester with temperatures touching a sizzling 24.6 degrees centigrade in the middle of the month.

A consistently warm month has produced an average maximum temperature for the city of 18.5 degrees centigrade - this is 46 per cent higher that normal. And rainfall has been well below average at 9.9mm (0.38 in.

Worcester News weather expert Paul Damari said: "It is the warmest April on record. I did expect a mild spring but I have been doing this for over 40 years and I have never had anything like this before. It has been the constant nature of it. It has been a classic heat surge. It is amazing. The warmest day was Sunday, April 15 when it reached 24.6 degrees centigrade. That is well above average. "

The Met Office has also confirmed that temperatures for the past 12 months in Central England broke all records. The average temperature for May 2006 to April 2007 was 11.6 degrees centigrade beating the previous high of 11.1 degrees centigrade for 1995. The Central England Temperature is the world's longest running weather record and dates back to 1659.

Mr Damari added that the rainfall was just 38.9 per cent of the normal amount for April. "That is a large deficit. If we have a hot summer we may get some problems with water shortages. People growing shallow rooted crops have already started using irrigation."

He said the conditions mean there is already a high fire risk in the countryside because the moisture content in plants like bracken is very low.

And Mr Damari predicted some very hot days in May, when temperatures could shoot up into the high 20s, together with heavy thunderstorms coming in from northern France.

"The rain could be so heavy that it just runs off the ground and could be very localised. It is not good rain to have in the situation we are in."

He also said the conditions were right for another long hot summer this year and attributed the weather pattern to global warming.

"This is global warming. These are not little hiccups. It goes hand in hand with scientific evidence. Another problem with this warming is that we are likely to see more tornadoes like the one in Birmingham. The next 10 to 15 years are going to be very interesting."