Forecasters are warning of a bank holiday sunburn risk as UV rays are expected to reach very high levels during the sunshine this weekend, after weeks of cooler weather.
The Met Office is anticipating UV levels of 8 in the south of England on Monday, which is considered “very high” for the UK and requires extra sun protection.
Though the temperature will not exceed the averages for the time of year, people could be caught out after weeks of unseasonably wet weather.
The Met Office spokesperson Oli Claydon said: “Most of May has been statistically pretty cool and wet but we’re seeing a bit of a change in fortunes already and that will remain through the week, through the weekend and into the beginning of next week as well.”
Temperatures will reach the low and mid-20s across the UK, including the north-west of Scotland, with the south of England expected to top 25C on Monday.
Claydon said: “With all the cold and wet conditions and lots of cloud through May, people could get caught out by the UV because it is very high. It’s scoring as 8, which is, for the UK, very high, so if people are going out and making the most of the fine weather it is something that they need to pay close attention to because you could get sunburned pretty quickly.
“It’s a bit of a change to what we’ve become used to over the last month.”
A jet stream in May brought colder and wetter weather than is usual for the time of year but the jet stream is now moving further north, away from the UK.
Claydon said: “We’ve got a little bit of rain and some cloud around today, that’ll fizzle out through the day. Some of that cloud will still be around come Saturday morning but burn off through the day, leaving much more in the way of sunny spells through Saturday afternoon.”
Sunday is likely to be sunny, with some cloud on the North Sea coast and Monday is expected to be the sunniest day of the weekend, with blue skies and hardly any cloud.
High temperatures could continue until Wednesday, the Met Office said, with dry weather expected to continue into Thursday, with the possibility of rain and thunderstorms towards the end of the week.
