Deckchairs at the ready as wildest hopes are realised
FOR once, human expectations and what our weather is prepared to deliver will be perfectly in sync this Bank Holiday Weekend, providing you are among that majority who hanker after enough sunshine to sit out in the garden, light the BBQ or head off to the coast. It may even be the warmest early May Bank Holiday weekend on record, a welcome change after the unexpectedly chilly last days of April.
A strong May sun will burn off any remaining low cloud in most parts of the UK as today dawns. Only in the north-west of Scotland and Northern Ireland will the Atlantic breezes keep it grey and damp, but even there it should improve at the day wears on. Everywhere else, temperatures will build on yesterday, with warm air pulled in on south-easterly breezes. Expect 77F (25C) in London and up through the spine of England to Birmingham. Over in the west, Cardiff should see 70F (21C) and it’s a similar picture out east in Norwich.
Tomorrow could see the mercury nudging up to 80F (27C) in south-east England, but on Tuesday, gustier, cloudier conditions will start to venture southwards and eastwards. However, the continental high pressure will not easily relinquish its hold. The further south and east you are this coming week, the more it will feel like early summer. With luck, it could even last until next weekend.
It is a tonic after new research just published in the Journal of the American Geophysical Union shows how, over the past 70 years, the height of waves crashing down on our western seaboard during the winter months has risen by 2.3ft (0.7m). In 2011, off the coast of Scotland, a whopper peaked at 52ft (15.9m).