Temperatures across much of the United Kingdom are set to climb sharply over the bank holiday weekend, with the cold spell of recent days giving way to a much milder, more unsettled picture. After a bright start on Saturday, cloud will build from the west, with rain arriving in Northern Ireland and western areas of England and Wales.
The swing is a marked one. This week has felt like winter in some places, with northerly winds keeping temperatures around 4-7C below average. By Sunday, readings will have risen to around 12-16C, before reaching or just surpassing average levels on Tuesday and Wednesday, when 16-20C is likely for most parts of the UK.
From mid-week, temperatures will jump into the low twenties for much of the country, and later in the week 20-26C looks likely across most areas. Parts of south-east England could be as warm as 26C by the end of the week, making that corner of the country the most likely to see the highest values. Warmer southerly winds will develop as the week goes on, replacing the northerly flow that has kept conditions so cool.
Even so, the holiday weekend will not be a clean run of blue skies. Showers, thunderstorms and hail have already featured widely, and the days ahead are still expected to bring a mixture of sunshine and rain at times. Showers will be mostly confined to northern and western areas of the UK, with sunny spells elsewhere, but there will also be longer spells of rain at points through the week ahead.
That leaves the bank holiday with two clear messages: it will turn noticeably warmer, but it will not settle down completely. For anyone planning outdoor travel or plans, the better news is that the cold has broken. The less certain part is whether the sunshine will last long enough to keep the rain at bay.
