Sunny spells to return for bank holiday after rainfall, Met Office says

Parts of the UK have been hit by a month’s worth of rain in the last few days.

Flooding hit parts of the north of England this week (Peter Byrne/PA) (PA Wire)

Britons can expect sunny spells this bank holiday weekend after parts of the UK were battered by a month’s worth of rainfall in the last two days, according to the Met Office.

Forecasters say all regions of the UK will see some dry spells over the weekend, with the sunniest and driest periods coming on Saturday.

It comes after flooding hit parts of the north of England this week, with Carlisle in Cumbria seeing 88mm of rain in 48 hours. The average for May is 55mm across the whole month.

The bank holiday weekend will see some sunny spells and it will feel quite pleasant in the sunshine for many on Saturday in particular

Mark Sidaway, Met Office

On Wednesday, 10-year-old Leah Harrison, from Darlington, was killed in a mudslide while on a school trip at Carlton Bank on the edge of the North York Moors.

Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan said flooding across the country was improving and “easing quite quickly”.

Showers are expected to continue in Scotland and Northern Ireland on Friday, but much of England and Wales will see drier conditions.

Saturday could see temperatures in the low 20s in parts of the southeast.

Mr Morgan said: “We’re not expecting as much rain [over the weekend] as we’ve had over the past two days, but all areas are at risk of seeing showers at some point.”

Coastal regions and southern England are expected to see less rain than other areas of the UK, he added.

The Met Office’s deputy chief meteorologist Mark Sidaway said: “The bank holiday weekend will see some sunny spells and it will feel quite pleasant in the sunshine for many on Saturday in particular.

“Sunday and bank holiday Monday will likely see a return to sunshine and showers. Low pressure to the west is likely to push fronts into the UK on Sunday, these tending to break up and turn more showery in nature as they do so.

“We are likely to see some heavy, possibly thundery, showers on both days, but there should still be some dry spells in between, and in any sunshine it will feel pleasantly warm.”