The hottest day of the bank holiday is over, but bright spells will continue with western areas getting the best of the sunshine, the Met Office has said.

Forecasters have said “west is best” when it comes to the rest of the three-day holiday, with Wales and south-west England expected to have most of the warm weather on Sunday and Monday.

Saturday has seen the most widespread fine weather, the mercury hitting highs of 24.4 degrees in Strathallan, Scotland.

While areas of Derbyshire hit 24 degrees, and Northern Ireland 23 degrees.

It is set to get cloudier over what is left of the weekend, with Monday seeming cooler especially in the south east of England with occasional, light showers, despite temperatures remaining in the high teens.

Craig Snell, Met Office forecaster, told PA: “If you’re looking for the best day out of the weekend as a whole, then it was Saturday.

“Overall, a lot of the UK had a good day today particularly in the west. And that trend seems set to continue.

“Although it will gradually get cloudier from the east over the next two days, meaning it won’t be as warm, it’ll still be relatively dry in most places.

“But, if you are looking for sunshine west is definitely best.”

Anyone looking to hop in a car and head to a destination to make the most of the fine and dry long weekend, will be joining millions of others as the RAC estimates that 16.7 million leisure trips will be made on UK roads between Friday and Monday.

Friday evening saw “bumper-to-bumper” traffic on many of the country’s motorways – including the M1, M5, M6, M25 and M56 – as many left on their getaways.

Traffic was slow in certain areas, such as Cornwall and Devon, on Saturday morning as many headed to the coast.

Monday is also expected to be busy as people make their return journeys home. Roads in the south west of England, including the M5, are predicted to be worst affected.