Some summer sun expected after ‘taste of autumn’ over bank holiday weekend

Some summer sun should be on the way despite hints of autumn nipping into the August bank holiday weekend, forecasters have said.

The Met Office said there had been “a taste of autumn” as temperatures fell widely into single figures overnight ahead of a fresh Sunday morning.

Met Office meteorologist Craig Snell said Sunday “started on a sunny and bright note for a lot of the UK” as clouds moved in over Northern Ireland and western Scotland.

The area of cloud and rain is set to spread eastwards and limit the sunshine.

In an online forecast, he added: “The heaviest and most persistent rain will be across parts of Northern Ireland, southern Scotland and northern England and for all of us it will be a windy afternoon.

“Potentially come the end of the afternoon we could just see some gales along the Irish Sea coast.

“And with the cloud, wind and rain combined, for most of us it can be feeling fairly chilly for the time of year.

“But down towards the south east where we hang on to the sunshine for the longest we will just climb up to about 20C or 21C.”

Following the bank holiday weekend for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, warmer conditions are expected to develop during next week in central and eastern areas, with the possibility of some hot weather for a time.

The Met Office could not say exactly how hot it may get and added that how long this may last is uncertain.

There may also be another spell of heavy and persistent rain in some north-western areas on Tuesday.

Only one location across the entirety of the UK managed to climb above 20C on Saturday as Pershore in Worcestershire reached 20.4C while people in Braemar, Aberdeenshire, had to deal with a temperature of 5.1C.

The mix of sunshine and showers comes as Storm Lilian, which brought strong winds exceeding 70mph to northern parts of England and Wales and travel disruption, left behind some scattered downpours in northern and western areas.

On Friday evening, Leeds Festival organisers confirmed the BBC Radio 1 stage and the brand-new Aux stage would not reopen for scheduled performances on Saturday or Sunday, which were expected to feature stars including Jorja Smith, Teddy Swims, and The Wombats.

The decision came as “mother nature has played her part”, they said.