UK Weather: Sizzling End To May Bank Holiday Weekend As Record-Breaking Temperatures Expected

Get the sunscreen out.
People enjoy the warm weather on Boscombe beach in Dorset.
People enjoy the warm weather on Boscombe beach in Dorset.
PA Wire/PA Images

The UK looks set to sizzle today as forecasters predict it will be the hottest Bank Holiday Money since records began.

Temperatures are expected to soar to 28C in parts of England as the three-day weekend draws to a close.

The soar in temperatures would make it the hottest early May Bank Holiday Monday in 40 years - since the extended weekend was introduced in 1978.

Until now, the mercury has never risen beyond the 28C mark on the Monday of the early May Bank Holiday.

Bank Holiday Monday in 1999 was 23.6C, while the hottest bank holiday weekend ever was in 1995 when temperatures peaked on the Saturday at 28.6C.

The South East, East Anglia and the Midlands will feel the heat most today.

Met Office forecaster Charlie Powell said the highs of 28C were not going to be widespread, with the scorching temperatures being the “exception rather than the rule”.

Most of England and Wales will be “around the low to mid 20s mark”, Powell added.

On Sunday, the mercury hit 22.3C in Edinburgh and 20.8C in Katesbridge in County Down – making for the hottest day of 2018 in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

People enjoying the sunshine at Branksome Beach, Poole, as sun worshippers are set to sizzle in the spring heatwave.
People enjoying the sunshine at Branksome Beach, Poole, as sun worshippers are set to sizzle in the spring heatwave.
PA Wire/PA Images

The weather is set to become mixed as the month progresses, and the May 19 wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle draws near.

“We’re still going to see some dry days, but there’s still going to be some wet days mixed in as well,” Powell said.

Talking about the weather on the day of the royal wedding, Powell said: “So it doesn’t look like it’s going to carry on in a similar kind of vein to high pressure in charge, sunshine, light winds, high temperatures, that we have now.

“Neither does it look like it’s going to be a complete washout, horrible end to the month of May.

“But I think we can expect things to be not as warm as they are now, but also not as dry as they are now,” he said.

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