Cheers! Drinkers set for sunny return

PUBGOERS who have waited more than 100 days for a pint will be rewarded with a little sunshine today as the nation’s beer gardens finally reopen.

Following days of heavy rain and high winds, Edinburgh and Glasgow will enjoy temperatures up to 18C (64F).

Forecasters say temperatures will be perfect for anyone who is planning to visit one of the beer gardens set to reopen.

However, drinkers in the North may find it a bit cooler.

Tom Morgan, of the Met Office, said: ‘Sitting out in a beer garden on Monday afternoon should feel very pleasant indeed.

‘If you happen to have a beer in your hand, it will feel even better. Monday will be one of the better days of the week. Things go downhill on Tuesday, with low pressure coming in from the West.’

It comes after the country was hit by two days of high winds and torrential rain as a summer storm blew in. The storm resulted in the Met Office issuing a yellow ‘be aware’ warning, running from midnight on Saturday until the late afternoon yesterday.

Most of the southern half of Scotland fell within the area covered by the warning, including Central, Tayside and Fife, South West Scotland, Lothian and Borders and Strathclyde.

Parts of northern England were also placed on alert.

But the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) said that the recent heavy rainfall has done much to improve dry ground conditions following a very dry spring.

In its latest ‘water scarcity’ report, Sepa said that the heavy and persistent downpours had helped the Western Isles and Argyll return to normal conditions after being on an early warning for drought.

However, the report added: ‘Despite recent rainfall, the majority of the East is at ‘alert’ due to the prolonged dry weather earlier in the year.

‘We had an extremely dry March to May period, so there remains a longer-term rainfall anomaly, soil moisture deficit and low groundwater levels.

‘This means that conditions could worsen quickly if there is another spell of dry weather.’