Tale of two countries
Snow in the North, but glorious sunshine just 250 miles away... and a sweltering 75F this week could be the start of the hottest spring ever!
AS THICK snow settled in Cumbria and rain lashed other parts of the North, winter is clinging on in half of the country.
But with this week set to be sunny and the mercury predicted to hit 24C (75F), the rest of Britain is heading for a heatwave.
Forecasters say temperatures will be up to 10C above average for the time of year, making parts of the UK hotter than holiday destinations in southern Europe. And bookmakers have slashed odds on this being the warmest spring on record after the Met Office confirmed temperatures from now to June are more than twice as likely to be above average than below average.
Last Friday was the hottest day of 2015 so far, reaching 21.9C (71.4F) in St James’s Park, central London. But despite balmy weather in much of the South, blizzards hit Scotland and northern England, covering areas including the Lake District’s Kirkstone Pass with a layer of snow. Rain battered Manchester and the Pennines.
The South enjoyed sunshine, with punters flocking to the Cam in Cambridge – 250 miles from the Lake District – but temperatures stalled at 13-14C (55-57F).
The mercury fell below zero in Berkshire early yesterday, while winds in Wales reached speeds of up to 75mph.
However, warm weather is set to return to southern parts, with temperatures in London predicted to hit 23C (73F) tomorrow and peak at 24C (75F) on Wednesday. The forecast means Britain could be hotter than many Mediterranean resorts, including Valencia in Spain, which will see 20C (68F) and 17C (63F) on those days, and Malta, which will peak at 18C (64F).
Steven Keates of the Met Office said: ‘ For the bulk of England it is looking like a decent week with plenty of dry weather. It is quite likely we will see the hottest day of the year so far on Wednesday.’
He said temperatures will fall slightly by Thursday and Friday, but the sunshine will stay.
Bookmakers Ladbrokes yesterday said spring 2015 is odds-on to be the hottest on record, with 5/6 offered. But the Met Office warned it was too early to predict.
Mr Keates said: ‘It could be in the warmest category compared to previous years but there is always a chance it could be at the other end of the scale … quite cold.’
The Met Office said: ‘ For April-May- June temperatures near to above average are most likely. Overall, the probability the UK mean temperature for April-May- June will fall into the coldest of our five categories is 10 per cent, and the probability it will fall into the warmest category is between 20 per cent and 25 per cent.’