Map shows areas where temperatures are set to hit 21C before thunderstorms strike this weekend
Britain is facing mixed weather this bank holiday with temperatures expected to hit 21C on Saturday before thunderstorms strike across the weekend.
The Met Office is predicting temperatures to reach the low 20s Celsius in the southeast of the country tomorrow afternoon before conditions get a bit more mixed on Sunday, with thundery downpours on the way.
People in the capital will get the chance to top up their suntans over the bank holiday with London seeing highs of 21C on Saturday, while the midlands, the north and Wales will reach a pleasant 19C, according to the forecaster.
But the warm weather is set to come to a grinding halt by the second half of the weekend with the heat dropping to around 15C for most of the country with the southeast also cooling down to 19C.
And on Bank Holiday Monday, the wet weather is expected to continue with showers across the UK and even a chance of some very heavy rain in the north of England and Scotland.
Despite a potentially thundery end to the weekend, the Met Office currently has no weather warnings in place – although the forecaster confirmed today it is keeping the ‘situation under review’.
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In most areas, Friday afternoon was dry with similar conditions expected for the rest of the day.
The sunniest spots at the end of the week were found across the south of the UK.
While Saturday is expected to be the best day of the bank holiday weekend, the further east regions of the country as well as the far southwest are likely to be affected by some rain.
The rain on Sunday will hit the midlands, the north and Scotland the hardest and some areas will even see thunder storms.
Met Office Deputy Chief Meteorologist Dan Harris said: ‘Sunday will have a mixture of sunny spells but also scattered, heavy and in places thundery downpours. Not everywhere will see them but where they do occur there is a small chance of some temporary issues such as flooded roads.
‘Scotland will be cloudier with rain, while Northern Ireland will also be cloudy but with a chance that heavy showers could break out later too, bringing similar conditions to England and Wales.
‘The outlook for Bank Holiday Monday is for brighter, cooler and breezier conditions with scattered showers for England and Wales at first, but a steady drying trend from the west is likely.
‘Northern Ireland could well start off fine but cool, and remain settled whilst feeling pleasantly warm in longer sunny spells.
‘The focus for heavier showers is expected to transfer to Scotland and possibly northeast England, where again these could be slow moving, the heaviest of which could cause some temporary, localised issues such as flooded roads.
‘We are keeping the weather warning situation under review, so please keep up to date with the latest warnings and forecasts from the Met Office if you have plans this Bank Holiday weekend.’
The sunny outlook for Saturday comes after Britons were warned today to prepare for congestion on what is set to be the busiest late May bank holiday weekend on the roads since the start of the pandemic.
More than 20million leisure trips by car are expected to be made between today and Monday, which would be the most for the late May bank holiday weekend since 2019.
The worst day to travel is likely to be Friday because the start of the long weekend coincides with the beginning of half-term for many schools, according to the RAC.
Drivers leaving today were advised to delay setting off until 6pm to miss the worst of the queues, while the busiest time tomorrow is expected to be 3pm until 6pm.
P&O Ferries warned of ‘long queues at border controls’ at Dover, adding: ‘If you miss your sailing, we will transfer you to the next available once at our check-in booths.’
Rail passengers were also facing delays on some routes this morning, including:
