UK set for mixed weather on General Election polling day

The country south of Liverpool will be largely warm and dry while further north will there be the chance of showers.

A man makes his way to a polling station in the rain (David Cheskin/PA) (PA Archive)

The UK is set for mixed weather on polling day with a split between the north and south, the Met Office has said.

Forecaster Greg Dewhurst said temperatures would be average for the time of year and said there were no weather warnings for any part of the country as it votes in the General Election.

Mr Dewhurst said: “Thursday’s weather will be divided into two halves.

“Areas south of Liverpool should be mostly dry with sunny spells. Temperatures there will be around average for this time of year with most places seeing high teens and early 20s.

There’ll be some occasional showers in the northern half of the UK, most frequently in northern Scotland, but these could be hit or miss. Not everyone will see them on Thursday

Greg Dewhurst, Met Office

“London will see the highest temperatures, somewhere between 21 and 22 degrees.

“The far south-west corner of the UK could see some showers by the end of the day in places like Cornwall, Devon and south west Wales, where we’re expecting bigger and patchy light rain clouds to form towards the end of the day.”

Cardiff will see temperatures of about 18c and sunny spells, he said.

Mr Dewhurst added: “There’ll be some occasional showers in the northern half of the UK, most frequently in northern Scotland, but these could be hit or miss. Not everyone will see them on Thursday.”

Liverpool will see highs of 17C accompanied by sunshine and showers, he said, with Edinburgh and Manchester seeing sunny spells and showers with temperatures around 18C.

Turnout is not generally affected by weather conditions, records suggest.

According to the Parliament website, despite the last general election in 2019 being the wettest since records began in 1931, turnout was actually higher (67.3%) than in 2001 (59.4%) and 2005 (61.4%) when polling day fell in June and May respectively.