Glimmer of hope for warmer days – but not just yet
SO MUCH for our hopes of another glorious spring like last year’s to soothe us into the post-lockdown world. May has been pretty miserable so far, and the cool, wet conditions are set to continue for much of the week ahead. If there is a crumb of comfort, it is that we will be able to go inside pubs, cafés and restaurants from tomorrow, so our social lives will not be quite as vulnerable to what the weather throws at us.
The source of the problem is, once again, our old friend the jet stream, that ribbon of air currents in the high atmosphere that blow west to east across the Atlantic. It is very close to the southern shores of the UK at present – that means we are on the northern side of it. As a rule of thumb, the weather to the north of the jet stream is cold and wet, while to the south it is warm and drier.
Hence the black clouds, which yesterday brought thunder and lightning, will carry on rolling in today, pushing in on a low-pressure system that is right over central and western parts of England and Wales. And that means there is a risk of sustained and often heavy rain in most places. There may be moments of sunshine, but don’t be tricked into thinking they will last.
The best of the temperatures will be in East Anglia at 61F (16C), with London and Liverpool 59F (15C) and Glasgow, Edinburgh, Belfast and Cardiff at 57F (14C), and Cornwall and Devon just 55F (13C). The centre of the low pressure will move off into the North Sea tomorrow, allowing for some sunshine to creep into western parts, but soon enough the next low will arrive, this time dragging in with it cold winds from the north. Things are getting better, but just not yet.