Warm days and cool nights were the key feature of the driest March in six years, a weather historian has said.
The last month saw the fifth sunniest March since records began 130 years ago with less than two-thirds the average amount of rainfall in England and Wales for the spring month.
Weather expert and writer Philip Eden said the month was dominated by a period of high pressure which brought dry, sunny and warm days for most of the month.
But this was surrounded by patches of unsettled weather.
Figures for England and Wales showed there were 169 hours of sunshine this month and only the Marches of 1893, 1907, 1929 and 2003 were sunnier.
Guernsey airport in the Channel Islands was the sunniest, with 202 hours of sunshine and Kinlochewe in Wester Ross, Scotland, saw just 75 hours. On average, Scotland saw 133 hours and Northern Ireland 118 hours.
In terms of rainfall, England and Wales saw 46.5mm - 64% of the average for 1971-2000 - with 85mm in Scotland and 49mm in Northern Ireland.
John Hutchinson, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said it was too early to predict what the summer had in store, but added that the next few days would be dry and warm across most of the country.
Temperatures are expected to reach 15C to 17C by Friday.
"We're looking at the start of another dry month," he said.
