29 Apr 2016

All you need to know about the bank holiday weather

Once again we find ourselves with a bank holiday weekend upon us, for which most of us will have plans that involve being outdoors at least some of the time.

Given the spectacular show that the weather has put on for us this week, with hail, sleet, snow and lightning, you’ll no doubt be hoping that it offers something better in the coming days.

Rainbow Homes

Well, there’s good news and bad news about the bank holiday weekend weather. The good news is that it’ll turn milder day by day. The bad news is that it’ll be unsettled, thanks to low pressure.

Looking even further ahead, there could be a burst of pleasant warmth later next week, but before I get to that, here’s the bank holiday weather day by day.

Saturday

Saturday will start on a cold, frosty and locally icy note, with temperatures close to or below freezing first thing in the morning.

Winter tracksThere’ll be sunny skies for many places in the morning, but gradually, the cloud will start to bubble up towards lunchtime.

Whilst there’ll be some sunshine in the afternoon, between midday and 4pm, there is likely to be more cloud than sunshine, with a few showers almost anywhere, but long dry spells between them.

Temperatures will generally be in the range of 8-13C, with the highest temperatures across East Anglia and south east England.

Sunday

Scotland and Northern Ireland will have a wet and windy start, before it turns a little brighter around midday, before more cloud and rain arrives during the early evening.

England and Wales will see any early sunshine diminish, as a band of rain spreads eastwards, reaching everywhere apart from East Anglia and south east England by lunchtime.

Any rain is unlikely to arrive across East Anglia and south east England until mid-afternoon and even then, it’ll probably be light and patchy, with some places seeing none at all.

Temperatures will increase a little more, with highs of 10-13C widely, but locally 14C for southern England and eastern parts of Northern Ireland.

Bank holiday Monday

There’s some uncertainty about the timing and detail of the weather on Monday, but it looks certain that it’ll be a blustery day with a brisk wind.

low_bhmon_MO_wpScotland and Northern Ireland will probably be wet and windy in the morning, with sunshine and showers following in the afternoon.

England and Wales will have cloudy skies and rain arriving in the morning, lasting until lunchtime, with sunny skies following through the afternoon.

Temperatures will reach 8-12C across Scotland and Northern Ireland, with 10-15C across England and Wales.

A burst of warmth later next week?

Whilst it is still a little while away in the realm of weather forecasting, the weather computer models are hinting that high pressure will build across the UK from the middle of next week onwards.

This would not only settle the weather down for most of us – especially England and Wales – but also Spring coloursbring in warm air from the south or south west.

There are hints that temperatures could reach 17-21C across England and Wales, although it won’t always be dry and sunny as the increase in humidity will bring the risk of some thundery showers.

Scotland and Northern Ireland will probably be cloudier at times with some rain, but temperatures will return to average.

Don’t forget, you can get the latest forecast on the Channel 4 Weather website. I’ll also be posting updates on Twitter – @liamdutton

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