It has certainly been a balmy start to autumn judging by the attire of shoppers in Ipswich town centre this half term week.

IPSWICH: It has certainly been a balmy start to autumn judging by the attire of shoppers in Ipswich town centre this half term week.

The region has been blessed with short-sleeve conditions for the last few days - and the good news is it is set to continue into the weekend with temperatures set to reach around 18C today and tomorrow.

Forecasters are officially deeming it an Indian summer with the last week of October expected to become one of the warmest on record.

This time last year temperatures dropped to -4C (24.8F), bringing snow and sleet showers and causing transport chaos.

Evening Star weather expert Ken Blowers said the clement conditions are due to warm air coming across France and Spain from West Africa and raising the temperature in the south east corner of the country.

“The whole of October has been changeable,” said Mr Blowers. “But the mild weather will continue at least until the weekend when we may see rain.

“Rainfall is yet to reach average for the month and is unlikely to, but lawns are looking greener because we've had such little rain since February.”

Gareth Harvey, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, added that people should enjoy the balmy weather while they can.

“It will be a bit warmer today but cooler, more unsettled weather is expected to start arriving by Sunday,” he said.