Suffolk is set to see the warmest day of the year so far on Sunday - prompting calls for residents to be sensible and observe coronavirus lockdown restrictions.

Forecasters are predicting a spell of warmer weather, with temperatures predicted to peak at 19C on Sunday.

The sunny spell would usually see thousands of people flock to the coast to enjoy Suffolk’s beaches.

However, Stuart Keeble, Suffolk County Council director of public health and protection, advised residents not to become complacent,or take any unnecessary trips.

Speaking on BBC Radio Suffolk, he said: “I think people in Suffolk are sensible and in general people are being sensible.

“What I would say is, go for a walk, do some exercise but you need to do that from your home.

“Don’t take unnecessary journeys and don’t put other people and other places at risk. We just need to be sensible.

“This won’t be forever but we have got to do the hard work now to make sure that we can help to stop the virus in the future.

“We can’t be complacent.

“It has been 12 days since social distancing came into force and we know that actually, this is going to be a longer journey not a sprint - and the fact is if we take our foot off the brake now and start mixing, then we are going to risk actually the numbers increasing in the future.”

Forecasters are also predicting the warmer weather to last into next week, which would have been the start of the Easter holidays.

Fred Best, forecaster at East Anglian-based Weatherquest, said: “The weekend is looking dry and warm.

“It looks like there will be a little more cloud during Saturday morning but that will make way for sun later on. Temperatures are looking to be around 14 or 15C.

“Sunday is looking like the best day. It will pretty much be sunny all day and temperatures could reach 19C inland.

“If it does reach those temperatures it will be the warmest day of the year so far.

“There will be a bit of a breeze over the weekend, more so on Sunday.

“Looking in to next week, it looks a bit mixed.

“Monday and Thursday will see some rain, but it seems that Tuesday and Wednesday may be similar to Sunday with temperatures in the high teens.”