The prime time to take a holiday? You May be surprised...

Experts pinpoint the best months to take a break

SCOTS holidaymakers have been taking their summer breaks at the wrong time of year, researchers suggest.

May enjoys more hours of sunshine than other summer months – including August, regarded by many as the height of the holiday season.

As well as trouncing June, July and August in the sunshine stakes, May is also the driest.

An examination of four decades of research into sunshine and rainfall shows May statistically offers better weather in which to get married, have a picnic or fire up the barbecue.

Independent analyst Weatherquest, working in conjunction with the maker of Pimm’s, looked at four decades of statistics and discovered that May has an average of 189 hours of sunshine while August has only 146 hours.

June has 159 hours, while July has 155 hours.

May is the driest month, with an average rainfall of 57mm (2.4in) across Scotland, followed by June with 64mm (2.51in), July with 65mm (2.55in) then August with 73mm (2.87in).

Weatherquest spokesman Jim Bacon said: ‘May has indeed got drier and sunnier, while August isn’t always the sunny month it is conventionally thought to be by the British public.’

Elly Martin, Pimm’s senior brand manager for Europe, said: ‘Conventional wisdom has it that the UK’s sunshine months are June, July and August.

‘However, our report confirms we should recalibrate our summer plans to make the most out of May.’

The number of ‘rain days’ seen in Britain in August has increased by 11 per cent since the 1960s but in May it has fallen by 12 per cent.

Forecaster Sian Lloyd, who presents the Pimm’s Summer Forecast report, said: ‘If we really wanted to get the most out of our summer we should consider following the lead of the Scots.

‘While schools in England and Wales keep studying into late July, Scotland’s have emptied by late June, meaning families can make the most of the sunshine.’

Glasgow will have the most summer rain in the UK, averaging 509mm (20in) from April to September. Cardiff and Stornoway are next, with 473mm (18.6in). The hottest city in the summer months is London, where temperatures hit an average maximum high of 23.4C (74F) by July.

The study also found that the weather is the country’s favourite topic of conversation, with Scots talking about it three times a day.

Yesterday weather experts said the spectre of disruptive snow at

‘Families can make most of sunshine’

Easter has been lifted for most of Scotland, but the country will still endure some bone-chilling temperatures.

Weathermen say that while some snow is expected to fall over the next few days, it will largely be confined to areas above 1,000ft.

Winds from Scandinavia, the same source as the two Beasts from the East which caused travel disruption earlier this month, will sweep across the country in the run-up to Easter.

While Aberdeen and the North East can count on snowfall before Good Friday, there is no suggestion travel chaos is on the way.

However, it is the East of Scotland which will see the lowest Easter temperatures.

By Good Friday, Aberdeenshire and the East coast will be down to 4C (39F) during the day. The West will fare better, with 7C (44F) forecast for Glasgow.

Met Office spokesman Martin Bowles said: ‘There has been a lot of speculation that there will be a lot of snow at Easter. That’s not going to happen.’

The West will continue to see warmer conditions on Saturday, when 7C (44F) is again expected in Glasgow while the East coast could struggle to reach 5C (41F).