ICE cream sellers in the Covered Market are stockpiling gelatos as they wait for the heatwave to hit Oxford.

With the sun already out, the Met Office forecasts suggest temperatures could reach a balmy 23C tomorrow, before peaking on Thursday.

Graham MacDonald from the iScream Gelato shop in the Covered Market - Picture by Ed Nix

Graham MacDonald, who runs the iScream gelateria in the historic market, said: “The warm weather is coming so we have eight different sorbets in the cabinet ready to go.

“All we need is a consistent period of good weather to really boost our sales - we are waiting for the onslaught.

“There was quite a bit of sunshine on Saturday and at times we were flat out like it was a summer’s day.”

Mr MacDonald said he noticed that customers’ moods improved when the sun was shining and added: “A bit of vitamin D never did anyone any harm.”

Flavours of the shop’s Italian-style ice cream include strawberry, mango and salted caramel.

The Met Office confirmed a spell of sunshine was finally on the way.

Its website said cloud would ‘quickly break up today, leaving very warm sunshine and light winds’, with a maximum temperature of 23 degrees C.

The outlook for Thursday to Saturday is dry and warm with plenty of sunshine throughout but temperatures are expected to reach a high tomorrow.

Magdalen Bridge Boathouse opened for the season in February but a sultry spell is bound to bring out more punters.

Punts can also be hired from outside the North Oxford restaurant the Cherwell Boathouse, where there are 80 punts.