Tuesday, May 4, 2010

What a washout! First the rain... then the SLEET as May Bank Holiday comes to a chilly end

Sleet, hail, single figure temperatures, soaking rain.

Yes, that was the Bank Holiday weekend. Now brace yourselves for even colder weather as 'monsoon May' continues with a chill that may even bring frost.

Forecasters say that the mercury could fall as low as 3c overnight for much of the week with more rain to follow the torrential downpours of Saturday and Sunday.

Chilly: A couple stroll on a decidedly grey Bournemouth beach in Dorset. Frost has been forecast over much of England and Wales tonight

Chilly: A couple stroll on a decidedly grey Bournemouth beach in Dorset yesterday. Frost was forecast over much of England and Wales last night

Barren: The cloudy weather left Bouremouth beach almost deserted, a far cry from how it looked for much of last month

Barren: The cloudy weather left Bouremouth beach almost deserted, a far cry from how it looked for much of last month

It will do little to lift the spirits of those who were soaked over the miserable weekend.

The worst of the weather was in the East and hilly areas of the North, where temperatures struggled to get into double figures.

South-West England and Wales fared better, with longer bright spells. But the highest temperature, recorded in St Athan, near Cardiff, was still only 13.3c (56f).

Enlarge dancers in Bath setting world record

Hundreds of people gathered in the rain in Bath yesterday to set a new world record for the largest number of people to dance along to the Gene Kelly classic Singing In The Rain. The attempt, which saw 234 people take part, was overseen by adjudicators from the Guinness Book Of World Records

Enlarge Brightening the day: One of the 234 people who sang Singing In The Rain in Bath yesterday

Brightening the day: One of the 234 people who sang Singing In The Rain in Bath yesterday

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At this time of year, temperatures of around 15c (59f) can normally be expected in northern England and 17c (62.6f) in the South.

The uninspiring temperatures followed heavy rain earlier in the weekend.

Parts of the Cotswolds were drenched by more than two inches of rain on Saturday night and Sunday morning - half the average for the month - while London had an inch-and-a-half in the same period.

The start of 'monsoon May', as it has been dubbed, was in stark contrast to last month, which turned out to be the third driest April in a century.


Met Office forecaster Andrew Sibley said: 'You won't remember the Bank Holiday weekend, that's for sure. Most of the showers weren't particularly heavy but they were of nuisance value if you got caught out in them.'

Gordon Brown found himself a victim of the changeable conditions as he faced heavy sleet in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, yesterday.

Another Met Office forecaster, Charles Powell, predicted the miserable week ahead, saying: 'There is even a chance of overnight frost as evening temperatures fall to between 3c and 5c.

'And towards the end of the week an easterly wind will bring a cold breeze over from the Continent.'

Enlarge Washout: People walk past palm trees yesterday on the promenade at Southend, Essex

Washout: People walk past palm trees yesterday on the promenade at Southend, Essex

Enlarge Beach huts stand empty at Southend yesterday beneath overcast skies

Beach huts stand empty at Southend yesterday beneath overcast skies

forecast

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