Bank holiday weather offers mixed fortunes
Once again, a bank holiday weekend is upon us and all eyes will be on the weather forecast in the coming days, to see what meteorological delights (or not) are on the cards.
This year, spring has been kind with the general warmth, sunshine and lack of rainfall that it has delivered, following the torrential rain and flooding we had through the winter.
Nevertheless, despite the overall fine theme, there have been wobbles during the past week, meaning that showers or longer spells of rain have punctuated the nicer days.
May usually starts to lean towards quieter weather, as the jet stream tends to move further northwards and weaken.
A weakening jet stream means that any low pressure systems that do form at this time of year are nowhere near as active as their autumn and winter counterparts.
In May, much of England and Wales would normally see temperatures of 15-18C, and 13-16C in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
However, it can also be the month when our first potential taste of summer arrives. The highest ever May maximum temperature recorded in the UK is 32.8C, albeit occurring late in the month on the 29th.
May bank holiday weather
Whilst the weather this bank holiday isn’t looking too bad, some places will have better fortunes compared to others.
England and Wales will tend to see the lion’s share of the sunshine, with Scotland and Northern Ireland prone to thicker cloud and a little rain.
On Saturday, Northern Ireland, along with western parts of Scotland, England and Wales will see cloud increase through the day, giving occasional light rain later.
Elsewhere, there should be some spells of sunshine, although low cloud may roll in off the North Sea, turning Lincolnshire, East Anglia and parts of south east England cloudier later in the day.
Sunday will be a cloudy day for much of the UK, with some occasional light rain for Scotland, Northern Ireland and north west England. The best chance of sunshine will be across southern and eastern parts of England.
Monday will see quite a lot of cloud across Scotland and northern England, which could give a few showers. Elsewhere, cloud amounts will vary, but there’s likely to be some pleasant spells of sunshine.
Temperatures will start to pick up as the weekend progresses, reaching 14-17C across Scotland and Northern Ireland and 14-19C for England and Wales, with a few places in eastern England hitting 20C.
Don’t forget, you can get the latest forecast on the Channel 4 Weather website. I’ll also be posting updates on Twitter – @liamdutton