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The Met Office has confirmed warmer and more humid conditions are on the way – but the scorching heatwave that Spain is currently experiencing isn’t expected to hit the UK. After a cool start to spring, meteorologist Alex Deakin has confirmed that the outlook is more positive as we move into May.
Speaking in a Met Office podcast yesterday (Friday), he said: “A couple of years ago we had two bank holidays in May where actually, it was fine and sunny for pretty much all parts of the UK for almost all three days, it was pretty much unprecedented. The chances of that are pretty slim but the chances equally of it raining across the whole three days across the whole of the UK are also very slim indeed – it’s never a complete washout, there’s always somewhere.
“It is getting warmer, it’s been a really cold week, people are a bit fed up often through April and March when it has been quite cool and showery, although overall spring isn’t far off average in terms of rainfall and temperature. But we have had cooler spells and it does fell like we’ve had a lack of sunshine, that’s been the biggest thing through April.
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“It will be getting warmer, it has been a cold week, there will be some sunshine but there will also be showers.” However, it doesn’t look like the Spain heatwave will be heading our way.
The forecaster explained: “We are not tapping into the heat from Iberia, we are not getting that heat. We are getting warmth, but that warmth is coming from the Atlantic, coming from the South West, rather than the South, so we are getting moisture with that – there’s going to be a humidity increasing and it will be a case of dodging showers.
“Later in the summer we’ll obviously be looking at temperatures rising and the potential for big thunderstorms, but we’re looking at that mid phase at the moment where the weather is mixed.”
This week Spain has sweltered in summertime temperatures with highs of 38C in the southern Guadalquivir Valley, according to the country’s national weather service. Health officials are considering bringing in a heat prevention plan two weeks early to help regions respond to the unseasonably warm weather’s effects.
The State Meteorological Agency said temperatures are “exceptionally high” for April because of a mass of very warm and dry air coming from North Africa, which is also affecting Portugal and Morocco.
Meanwhile in Bristol, temperatures over the bank holiday weekend will only reach 17-18C, with sunshine and showers forecast today (Saturday), drizzle most of tomorrow (Sunday) and sunny spells on Monday.
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