Better weather may be on the way, eventually...

IT has been feeling more like winter than May, with heavy downpours and cold temperatures, but the Met Office is giving people some hope for the end of the month and the bank holiday weekend.

Wales has already had 129% of its average May rainfall, and temperatures for all parts of the UK have been at least two degrees below the average.

Met Office forecaster Matt Taylor says: “It has been cold. In Europe, the warmer air has been confined to parts of Spain and Portugal, and eastern parts. In the UK, we have been firmly in the blue and there is very little change over the next five days and we stay with temperatures lower than they should be for this time of year.”

While there is not much let-up in the forecast this weekend or next week, with the occasional thunderstorm this weekend, forecasters offer more hope for the end of the month.

The bank holiday is on Monday, May 31, at the start of the school half-term holiday in Wales, and weather models are giving hope of better conditions.

Welsh forecaster Derek Brockway says: “A cool and soggy May so far. There’s more rain and heavy showers to come, but signs of something drier and more settled during the last week of the month.

“Ensemble charts show lower pressure over the UK next week with the jet stream south of us. The following week drier and more settled but low pressure over France brings a risk of showers. June drier and warmer for a while with signs of higher pressure.”

Matt Taylor says it will remain cool and wet this week and added: “To add insult to injury there will be stronger winds by the end of the week. But the week after does look to get drier and warmer.”

It is all very different from last year when the country was in coronavirus lockdown and May was the driest for 110 years. River levels in Wales were at record low levels and there was increased demand on the water supply due to the lockdown.

This year, the Met Office longrange forecast for Friday, May 28, to Friday, June 11, says: “It is likely for conditions to remain changeable with showers at first, but probably becoming more settled with an increasing likelihood of drier conditions for many places.

“Temperatures possibly recovering to nearer average but with more settled conditions bringing some warmer days, and some cooler nights remain possible.”