April  has refused to exit summer gracefully by breaking two heat records – the hottest start to April and the warmest night in April.

Previously, April 13, 1996, held the number one spot for the hottest minimum overnight temperature, with a balmy 23.4 degrees recorded.

But Tuesday night topped that, with the Bureau of Meteorology declaring April 2 the hottest night on record. The low for the night reached a balmy 23.6 degrees.

Overall, last night's temperatures were equal to the highest minimum recorded for April, which was in 2004.

Despite the forecast of rain, possible storms and cool weather for Melbourne in the afternoon, the temperature will hover around 23 degrees until 1pm on Wednesday.

Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster James Taylor said the average overnight temperature for April is 11 degrees.

On Tuesday, the mercury hit 33.4 at 3.06pm, marking Melbourne’s equal ninth-hottest April day and the hottest April day since April 10, 2005, when it was 34.5 degrees.

The record for April is 34.9 on April 5, 1938.

Mr Taylor said the frequency of minimum temperatures above 20 on an April night has increased since 1980, occurring, on average, every five years.

"Previous to 1980, minimum temperatures of 20 degrees and above have only occurred a few times since 1857," he said.

Mr Taylor warned Melburnians to look out for the cold change due to sweep across the city after 1pm, bringing with it rain and possible storms.

"The southerly change doesn’t come through until 1pm, and the temperature will creep back up to 23 degrees before diving down into the mid-to-high teens once the southerly goes through," he said.

The bureau has forecast showers for every day until Tuesday next week, with temperatures hovering between 19 and 23 degrees.
At 10am, Melbourne’s temperature was above 23, but dropping, Mr Taylor said.