More gloom... before the sun starts to shine
WE’RE in for another wet weekend, forecasters say – but there is light at the end of the drizzly tunnel with a sunny and dry spring on the way.
With yet more downpours expected today, tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday, the Environment Agency has issued 177 flood alerts and warnings across England.
But temperatures will be above average for the time of year and could hit 20C in some parts tomorrow.
And a new weather front could spell an end to the gloom that has left the UK saturated for weeks on end.
More than 200 people had to be evacuated in West Sussex on Tuesday night after the River Arun burst its banks.
And Kinmel Bay, Conwy, was under water yesterday.
Racegoers at Aintree for the Grand National on Saturday are facing showers, wind gusts of up to 45mph and 10C temperatures, with some sunny spells to brighten it up.
But there is an end in sight. Senior meteorologist Jim Dale said dry, warm weather will arrive in the next 10 to 14 days, thanks to higher pressure moving across France towards the UK. And some parts could soon be enjoying highs like the 20.9C seen last week in Suffolk, Hull, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire.
Jim said: “We’re seeing a transition zone, where we are at the tail end of the wet weather and we will begin to see a north-south split.
“It will likely be dry and warm across southern England and Wales while the north and Scotland will transition slower. It may not be for another three or four weeks that Scotland transitions. “We should see more heat, possibly revisiting temperatures of 21C.”
The Met Office agrees. It said this week’s “colder, northerly flow will possibly give way to something milder from the Atlantic” with the South and East likely to see “decent spells of drier weather with some good sunshine”.
Jim added: “There is better weather to come... no heatwaves yet. That is all to come, later rather than sooner. “For now, it will be pleasant spring weather – which will lift morale!”