Cooler weather is expected to spread throughout the UK this week following the warm and sunny spells seen during the first half of the bank holiday weekend, forecasters have said.
An increase in windy spells and downpours is expected after temperatures on Saturday peaked at 24.9C in London, and remained widely into the 20s for many parts of the UK.
The warm weather prompted many people to flock to parks and the seaside amid the coronavirus lockdown. Police in the South East reported having had to move hundreds of people on from beaches.
Sunday saw maximum temperatures drop by around 10C across the country, with a cloud front moving southwards – though some southern parts remained warm.
The Met Office added that the UK would continue to see more cloud and wind in the coming week, but “nothing significant or unusual”.
Some parts of the UK can expect to see frostier mornings.
While few people are expected to take up the chance to sunbathe from this Wednesday as lockdown restrictions ease, temperatures should start to rise as the summer approaches.
“Part of spring’s charm is you can get both types of weather,” a spokesman for the Met Office said.
“May can be quite a topsy-turvy month, getting closer to the start of summer. It’s not unusual for spring to have a hot part and a colder part.”
The return to duller weather comes following record-breaking April sunshine – with all four UK countries recording it among the top five sunniest since records in a series from 1929.
In the final week of the month, rainfall totals increased in many places – but the UK overall still only received 40 per cent of average April rainfall, according to official Met Office figures.
