A wet and windy bank holiday weekend is set to give way to a bright and sunny Monday, forecasters predict.
The good weather will return just in time for the last day of the annual break, sweeping away a grey 48 hours, the Met Office predicts.
“There will be a scattering of showers in the northern and western fringes of the country – and there could be the odd patch of rain everywhere – but, generally, the chances are of a dry and bright Bank Holiday Monday,” meteorologist Helen Roberts told The Independent.
Gusts of 45mph could be experienced in some parts of the UK as Sunday turns into Monday morning, while up to 50 ml of rain may fall in north and west areas of Scotland and Northern Ireland.
But by daylight, the more positive outlook should apply across much of the UK, Ms Roberts said. Temperatures will be around the high teens but lower in the north, she added.
The long weekend will be followed by two days of showers on Tuesday and Wednesday as a weather front moves from north west to south east, before things even up once more on Thursday and Friday.
“As that weather front moves on, we’ll be left with high pressure which will give us a more settled picture,” says Ms Roberts. “That should mean warmer, drier and brighter. Any showers – and they are still certainly possible – will be the exception rather than the rule.
“Temperatures will be pretty average for this time of year, potentially reaching the high teens in the north and low 20s in the south.”
She said the last of this summer’s sweltering evenings may now be gone for good for the year, however: "with the nights now getting longer, they will be significantly cooler than the days as a general rule,” she said.
Temperatures in early September are expected to be about average or slightly above.
The Met Office previously told The Independent that summer 2018 was still likely to be one of the hottest ever in the UK even if it does not beat the record set in 1976.
"It's going to be very close," said Greg Dewhurst. "When we looked at it in mid-August it was joint hottest, but temperatures have dropped recently. 1976 may just beat it.”
