Weekend showers and frost predicted as cold snap hits UK for bank holiday

Courier Country expected to be warmer than most areas

Most of Tayside and Fife could get lucky with the weather this weekend as the rest of the country prepares for a cold snap.

With music fans set to descend on Dundee and Kirriemuir for Dundee Dance Event and BonFest, revellers will be hoping the rain forecast for swathes of the country holds off.

The cold snap comes after Easter Monday, which was the warmest on record across the UK. The day saw temperatures higher than 20C in many places.

But this weekend it is expected that the mercury may drop to as low as 2C in northern Scotland this evening.

Meanwhile, heavy showers and hail are forecast across England’s east coast.

North of Courier Country, there were flurries of snow in Moray and Aberdeenshire yesterday as the temperatures already began to slide.

But Tayside and Fife looks like it will be escape the worst of the weather, with most places in Dundee, Angus, Perth & Kinross and Fife expected to be relatively dry.

Dundee should see sunny spells, with a high of about 11C today. While tomorrow, the day of Dundee Dance Event, is to be cloudier the temperatures will only be marginally lower.

Average temperatures in Scotland ranged from 7C to 13C in April, according to VisitScotland. Met Office forecaster Richard Miles said Scotland as a whole will be “a lot colder”.

“Saturday will be the worst day of the bank holiday weekend in terms of chilly showers and possible hail on the east coast, though Sunday and Monday will be a lot more settled.

“Sheltered, hilly areas in the north of Scotland could see colder and wintry weather in the evening from a northerly direction.

“The west should escape most of the colder weather, in Wales it could actually be quite nice, normal weather and the same in part of Northern Ireland, as most places go to double figures during the day.”

The lowest temperature ever recorded on the early May bank holiday was -6.4C in Grantown-on-Spey in 1981, and Kinbrace in 1988.

On the chances of that record being broken, Mr Miles added: “You’d be unlucky to see weather that cold, though some sheltered areas will feel very chilly.

“The coldest looks to be Aviemore in the Scottish Highlands, which could drop to -2C in the evening, with frosty weather in the hilly areas.”

Picture: Peter Jolly. Traffic on the A939 near Tomintoul where there was a dusting of fresh snow yesterday.