What the weather will be like this Easter bank holiday weekend

With school holidays beginning on Friday, many families planning Easter getaways will be hoping for some decent weather.

Last month may have been the warmest February on record in England and Wales, but it was also the fourth wettest in England, and the wettest in the South, according to the Met Office, meaning many Britons will be eager to catch some rays if they can.

It’s expected to be a busy Easter weekend for traffic, which is expected to peak on Saturday, with a predicted 18.5 million car journeys set to take place. With some 26% of drivers still undecided on where they will be heading, according to research by the AA, the roads could be even busier still.

However, families hitting the road are still likely to face some “unsettled” weather, with “rain or showers in most regions at times” during the Easter weekend, the Met Office says.

Here, Yahoo News explains what we know so far about the weather around the Easter break.

Easter weekend

Forecasters anticipate a mixed bag of weather for the Easter Weekend, with the Met Office predicting “unsettled” conditions with rain and showers in most places, but also some drier and brighter spells.

It says the “heaviest and most frequent showers” are expected in southern and western areas, which is worth noting for any families hoping for a quick getaway over the weekend.

In its long-range forecast, which covers Good Friday, Easter Saturday, Easter Sunday and the following Bank Holiday Monday, the Met Office adds that there is a “chance of northern areas becoming drier with increasing amounts of sunshine” later in the weekend.

Compared to this week, the Easter Weekend is likely to be “a little warmer”, the forecasting body adds.

BBC Weather also predicts a “changeable” and “unsettled” Easter weekend. Giving some more detail about Good Friday, the broadcaster said: “Friday will be breezy with plenty of sunshine in the east. The west will see patchy cloud and blustery showers. A little milder.”

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Looking ahead to this weekend, BBC meteorologist Carol Kirkwood said: “We’ll be looking at showers, spells of rain at times, a fair bit of sunshine too, it’s not a washout.”

She added that temperatures will be “slowly rising” by Easter Sunday.

Easter holidays weather

For most people in the UK, the Easter Holidays run for around two weeks after Easter, with most pupils due back in school on 15 April.

The Met Office said that in the week following the Easter weekend, “continued unsettled or changeable weather remains the most likely outcome”.

It said all areas are likely to see further rain or showers at time, with some drier spells in between, although the South is expected to fare worse than the North, which will remain slightly drier on average.

During early and mid-April, the Met Office said pressure is likely to be higher than average in the north of the UK, with lower pressure in the west of south-west.

What this means is that more unsettled weather is likely to be pushed further south than usual, with the highest concentration of rainfall expected in the South.

“Conversely northern, especially northwestern, areas will tend to be drier compared to normal,” the Met Office added.

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