Britain could see HOTTEST day of the year
Get ready for a Bank Holiday heatwave: Britain could see HOTTEST day of the year this weekend as temperatures climb to 77F on Monday with crowds set to pack out beaches and beer gardens
- Isolated showers will begin to fade and most areas across country will see spells of warm sunshine this week
- Temperatures set to climb to 73.4F in London today and predicted temperatures of 75.2F in Manchester
- In South East England the temperatures are expected to climb to 77F by Monday after a wet and windy month
The nation is set to bask in temperatures of up to 77F this bank holiday weekend as warm sunshine breaks through and brings in a balmy end to May.
As a wet and windy month comes to an end, isolated showers will begin to fade and most areas will see spells of warm sunshine, with temperatures set to climb to 73.4F (23C) in London today and predicted temperatures of 75.2F (24C) in Manchester and Liverpool on Sunday.
The sizzling weather, which follows a May that has been the wettest on record for some areas, could also see the UK welcome the hottest day of the year so far this, with temperatures in South East England expected to reach 77F (25C) by Monday.
The last time temperatures were that high was on March 31 when 76.1F (24.5C) was recorded in Kew Gardens in London – a figure that also made it the warmest March day in 53 years.
Wet weather has dominated the forecast this month, with Wales recording 200.7mm of rain – double the monthly average – making it the wettest May in records dating back to 1862.
Britons enjoy the sunshine and paddle in the sea in Bournemouth as temperatures begin to rise across the UK
Traffic begins to build up on the M3 towards Winchester, in Hampshire, ahead of the May bank holiday weekend
However the positive forecast could now see throngs of holiday makers racing to the coast and the nation’s beer gardens in an effort to enjoy the balmy weather.
It comes after the UK got a taste of summer earlier this week as temperatures hit 71.6F (22C) in the Surrey village of Wisley, which was the first time anywhere in the UK had reached at least 68F (20C) since May 9.
According to Met Office figures it has been the 10th wettest May on record with England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all recording rainfall above the average amount predicted at this point in May.
Parts of Scotland and northern England even saw snow at the beginning of the month when temperatures reached 22.1F (-5.5C).
About 98 per cent of Highways England roads – motorways and major A-roads – will be free of roadworks to give extra capacity, with 899 carriageway miles of roadworks being completed or suspended ahead of the weekend.
Yesterday the RAC warned that the bank holiday weekend will see an estimated 10.8million leisure trips taken by car according to its research of drivers’ plans, but the warmth could see even more motorists take to the roads.
The motoring organisation said drivers have firm plans to take 7.2million trips to see friends and family between Friday and bank holiday Monday – with Saturday and Monday the busiest at 2million separate journeys each day.
An extra 3.6million trips will be taken at some point over the weekend by motorists who have not yet decided on which days they will drive, suggesting the weather will play a major role in deciding traffic congestion levels.
The RAC’s Ben Aldous said: ‘With Covid restrictions gradually lifting and some better weather on the horizon at last, we’re anticipating large numbers of drivers to be venturing out and about over the bank holiday weekend.
‘The fact only one-in-10 said they weren’t planning a trip because of the virus, down from a quarter over Easter, shows people now have more confidence to drive to see friends and family safely.
Isolated showers will begin to fade and most areas will see spells of warm sunshine, with temperatures set to climb to 73.4F (23C) in London today
‘Our research points to Saturday and Monday being the busiest days, but in reality, there’s a good chance the weather will have the final say as to how busy the roads get.
‘A return to more typical late May temperatures and an end to the recent wind and rain could spark a sudden surge in journeys and mean some routes – especially those to the coasts and hills – start to clog up.’
It comes as Britain yesterday recorded more than 4,000 daily Covid cases for the first time since the start of April, amid mounting fears the rapid spread of the Indian variant will scupper ‘Freedom Day’ next month.
Department of Health bosses posted another 4,182 positive tests, up by almost half on last Friday’s count. It is the most reported in a single day for nearly eight weeks, since the 4,479 on April 1. Almost 75 per cent of all new cases are now the Indian variant.
Ministers always expected cases to increase when restrictions were eased, and they believe vaccines will stop the NHS from being overwhelmed once again.
But No10 has refused to rule out delaying plans to relax lockdown on June 21 and will have to hit the panic button if hospitals start to suffer spiralling admissions, or the mutant strain is found to be much more infectious than the Kent variant, which triggered the devastating second wave.
It came as scientists called for No10 to delay the final step on the roadmap back to normality for at least two months, giving the NHS more time to fully vaccinate millions more adults.
Professor Andrew Hayward, a member of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag), said there was ‘a good argument for caution until such time as we’ve got a much higher proportion of the population double-vaccinated’.
Analysis suggests a single dose of the jab is only around 33 per cent effective at blocking symptoms of Covid in patients infected with the Indian variant, compared to about 50 per cent for the once-dominant Kent strain.
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