The UK is predicted to have spells of sunshine and balmy 21C highs in some areas but people should have their umbrellas to hand as there will also be showers and thunderstorms
Brits are set to bask in balmy 21C highs over the Bank Holiday weekend but rain showers will never be far away.
After a week of torrential downpours with the Met Office issuing a rare amber warning for rain in parts of the country, the outlook for the long weekend is an improvement. A low pressure that came in from the east is now dispersing and there will also be a high pressure system trying to move in from the south west on Monday.
“The Bank Holiday weekend is unlikely to be as wet overall as some of the weather we have seen over recent days in fact it does promise to bring some sunshine,” said BBC weather forecaster Ben Rich. “But it isn’t the whole story, there will also be some slow moving heavy and thundery downpours.”
After a cold night in some areas where it might have dropped as low as 3C, there will be sunshine in some areas today – but it remains likely there will be cloud in parts of the east which will take the edge off the temperatures. Today is expected to be the warmest day with highs of 21C, with temperatures dipping slightly tomorrow and on Monday.
Mr Rich continued: “The best of the sunshine – south east England, northern Scotland, 20C or 21C. But we will see rain pushing into the south west of England, parts of Wales, eventually getting into parts of Northern Ireland as we go through the evening, the night and into Sunday.
“Through Sunday really these two weather systems will really just break apart into a mixture of sunny spells and showers but some of those showers will be heavy and thundery. The greatest chance of thunderstorms probably across England and Wales but you could catch a heavy downpour just about anywhere, some of those downpours will be quite slow moving so they could bring a lot of rain in a short amount of time but conversely some places will avoid the showers and stay dry.”
For Monday the main showers are expected to be in the north and the high pressure attempts to move in from the south west. 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.”
