Coldest May bank holiday on record but April was one of the sunniest in history

PA

The UK experienced record low temperatures for an Early Spring Bank Holiday Monday yesterday as wind and rain swept the nation.

Monday’s low of -5.9C was recorded in Kinbrace, Scotland - the same place where the previous low of -5.9C was recorded in 2012.

The Met Office said this is “provisionally the joint coldest start to the Early Spring Bank Holiday Monday on record”.

London and the South East managed to avoid the brunt of the freezing temperatures but it was still rainy and windy for much of the bank holiday weekend.

However, despite the inclement weather, as of Friday, the UK had seen 218.8 hours of sunshine in April, making it the second sunniest on record.

Looking ahead, Londoners will get to enjoy glorious sunshine this coming weekend with temperatures tipped to rise into the 20s - making for the perfect beer garden weather.

Blissfully warm winds from Spain and southern France are set to sweep across London and the south-east from Saturday.

London is expected to benefit from the hottest weather with temperatures set to outshine Rome and Sicily in Italy.

Met Office spokesman Steven Keates said: “We are going to finally see something a little warmer coming our way probably by this coming Saturday. There will certainly be a different feel to the weather compared to what we’ve had for weeks and weeks.

“We will probably have a more humid feel. If you are staying in a pub beer garden it may well be that the nights won’t turn cold so quickly with the warmer air.

“There is some uncertainty as to how this is going to play out but temperatures potentially just scraping above 20 degrees by May 8 or 9.

“London and the M11 corridor seems a fairly reasonable stab at where it will be warmest come Saturday depending on how much cloud there is around.”

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