Royal wedding weather: The forecast for Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's big day

The ceremony is set to take place on Saturday 19 May at Windsor Castle

Sarah Jones
Wednesday 16 May 2018 10:15 BST
Comments
Royal wedding countdown: The plan so far for Harry and Meghan

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

With the royal wedding just days away, preparations are in full swing - from the wedding cake and guest list to Meghan Markle’s all-important dress.

However, there is one element that remains completely out of the couple’s control: the weather.

Set to take place on Saturday 19 May 2018 at midday, the ceremony will be held at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle – a location which has apparently become a “very special place” for both Prince Harry and Markle.

And, while there’s still some time to go, a long range forecast has given a hint as to what the weather might be like on the big day.

Despite concerns that the day could be overcast with showers, it looks as though Windsor will be graced with warm temperatures and sunshine with the Met Office currently predicting that the 19 May will be “bright and dry.”

In fact, experts are so convinced that there will be no rain that bookmaker Coral has slashed the odds on it being the hottest day of the year so far, the Express reports.

Instead, the day is expected to see maximum temperatures of around 20 Celsius with lows of eight and increasing cloud.

“At this early stage, there is some uncertainty about the amount of cloud around but we can expect at least some warm sunny spells,” The Met Office states.

"Early temperature forecasts suggest that the day will start off rather cool, with an early morning temperature of around six Celsius, so anyone who arrives early to get a good place in the crowd will need to wear something warm.

“The maximum temperature in Windsor that day will be around 20 Celsius, compared to an average for the time of year of around 17 Celsius.”

It added: “We are fairly confident that there will be no rain to spoil the proceedings with only a very small chance of a shower.”

Last year in Windsor, the weather was “wet throughout the day, gradually ceasing by late afternoon” while in 2016 it was mostly “dry and bright” with “patchy rain”.

Similarly, in 2016 the day was mostly “sunny with widespread showers, some with hail and thunder.”

If preceding royal weddings are anything to go by though the couple should be in luck with Prince William and Kate’s ceremony in 2011, and Prince Charles and Diana’s in 1981 both going ahead without a glitch.

With a cloudy start to the day, Prince William and Kate’s wedding on April 29 2011 saw sunny spells and dry weather despite the threat of showers.

Likewise, on 29 July 1981, Prince Charles and Diana’s big day was greeted with “reasonably settled summer weather” as well as crowds of 600,000 people filling the streets of London, the Met Office reports.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in