HOTTEST EVER BANK HOLIDAY WEEKEND ON WAY
BRITAIN could swelter in the hottest May Bank Holiday weekend on record as spring comes to a scorching close.
Today is tipped to be the warmest day of the year – with the mercury set to rocket again tomorrow.
Searing heat over the coming days could topple May records, with the 91.04F (32.8C) set way back in 1922 now under threat.
The Met Office said Britain will be hotter than Mallorca, Barbados and even parts of the Far East including Singapore and Bangkok until things turn fresher on Monday.
Rocketing temperatures will trigger violent thunderstorms, with torrential downpours and lightning forecast over the next few days.
Met Office forecaster Emma Sharples said a plume of warm air from the Continent will bring the highest temperatures to Scotland and the North.
She said that today and Saturday are looking very sunny and hot with temperatures up further from yesterday and either day “could be the hottest of the year”.
Busiest
She added: “Depending on how things pan out there is around a 20 per cent chance we could reach or exceed the record high temperature for May.”
Scorching weather is expected to trigger the busiest late May Bank Holiday getaway for four years as millions head to Britain’s parks and beaches.
Asthmatics have been warned to take extra care, with pollution set to rise during the heatwave.
The RAC predicts 16.5 million cars will take to the roads over the next three days – about a million more than last year.
Some five million motorists will head out on Monday with 4.3 million expected tomorrow, it said.
Spokesman Rod Dennis warned to expect heavy delays and “bumperto-bumper” traffic on roads and motorways.
He said: “We’re expecting leisure journeys to reach a peak on Bank Heather the penguin keeps her cool at Cotswold Wildlife Park in Oxfordshire Holiday Monday.” He said drivers should be warned that the roads are likely to see significant congestion today with it being bumper-tobumper from lunchtime onwards.
The weather should turn fresher after the scorching weekend, although temperatures will stay above average.
Thermometers will hover around the top 60Fs into next week ahead of the start of the meteorological summer this week.
Exacta Weather’s James Madden said: “Things are about to hot up for most of the country. This is also likely to extend into the start of the meteorological summer on Thursday.”
Swathes of the country have basked in glorious sunshine this week, with yesterday the hottest day of the year so far – the mercury hitting 81.5F in Aboyne, Aberdeenshire.
WE COULD be about to experience the hottest ever May Bank Holiday weekend. Before you get too carried away, there are also expected to be widespread thunderstorms. It wouldn’t be a long weekend without a bit of rain, would it?