Heavy rain, high winds and even snow blight start of Easter weekend
Jack Campbell and his son make the most of the snow on Dartmoor yesterday
Forecasters have warned of a Bank Holiday washout after snow fell across parts of the UK yesterday in a wet and chilly start to the Easter break.
Two inches settled on the ground in North Wyke, just north of Dartmoor in Devon overnight, while nearly 3in was recorded in Sennybridge, Powys, yesterday morning as temperatures dropped as low as -2°C in parts of Devon.
Rose Mallard, 50, a smallholder from near Bideford, north Devon, said: “To wake up to see the snow settled and a beautiful blue sky was a gift.”
Rain, sleet and snow is expected to move northwards throughout today, with further snow showers expected in the north of Scotland over the Easter weekend, and the rest of the UK was warned to brace for further rain and some thundery conditions.
The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for rain in Northern Ireland into this morning, with heavy downpours having been expected to affect driving conditions in County Antrim and County Down.
Oli Claydon of the Met Office said: “There is still a chance of some snow over the Scottish hills as the weather front moves northwards.
“The weather story now really turns into an area of low pressure that’s going to bring some very strong wind and rain.”
The rest of the weekend is set to be “unsettled” but “bright and breezy”, with temperatures of up to 15°C in west London and 14°C in Manchester on Sunday, which is typical for the time of year.
The start of Britain’s Easter getaway was marred by the wet and windy conditions as trains were delayed by high winds and ferries were cancelled as winds hit 80mph in parts of the South West and the south coast, and the Met Office issued a wind warning for last night covering the whole of the south coast of England from Cornwall to Kent and even round to Suffolk.
The weather system has been named Storm Nelson by Spanish meteorologists. It is the UK’s first named storm since January, but is expected to hit harder on the continent, with Spain and Portugal braced for heavy storms in the coming days.
Yesterday, a British tourist died after falling into the sea in northern Spain.
The man, who is believed to be aged about 50, had been walking with his wife in the fishing village of San Esteban de Pravia, when he was knocked into the sea by a large wave.