DORSET enjoyed its warmest day of the year yesterday – and temperatures are set to rise.

According to Twitter-based weather forecaster, Dorset Sun who lives in Bournemouth, temperatures had already reached 15C in Poole by 9am.

This beautiful picture of a glowing sunrise was captured by Simon Ackerman Photography at Bournemouth beach yesterday.

The arrival of the warm weather sparked such excitement, the hashtag heatwave started trending on Twitter.

Local weather enthusiast, WessexWeather, said temperatures reached 22.1C in Wimborne just after 3.30pm.

The Met Office says Bournemouth will see highs of 21C today, with 22C predicted for Friday.

It will remain settled into the weekend with slighter fresher temperatures of around 16C on Saturday and Sunday.

Last week Dorset Sun told the Daily Echo some places will feel warmer than parts of southern Italy during the spell.

The warm snap comes just over four weeks after Dorset woke up to a blanket of snow on March 18.