Scotland braced for washout weekend as weeks of non-stop sunshine come to an end
After weeks of non-stop sun, Scotland is set to soak this weekend as the glorious dry spell finally comes to an end.
No rain has fallen for weeks in some places north of the Border, however that is all set to end tomorrow (Sat) with a low pressure system returning things back to normal.
But there is still one more day of sunny and bright weather to enjoy until the band of rain sweeps across the country and threatens to ruin weekend plans.
Oli Claydon, of the Met Office, said: 'Rain is pushing eastwards across Scotland overnight Friday and into Saturday, and then that brings quite a change to the weather conditions with unsettled weather through the weekend and, indeed, through next week.
'The high pressure that we've had settled across the UK for quite some time is getting displaced by low pressure moving in from the west which is then going to open the door to rainfall and, at times, some breezy conditions.
'I think it will be pretty welcome for many people, including some farmers and gardeners out there looking at some pretty parched gardens and agricultural fields.'
With the clear blue skies of late and with nine days left to go until the official start of summer it has already been Scotland's sunniest spring ever.
Met Office figures show that this season has enjoyed more than 520 hours of sunshine, beating the last record set in 2020 and far above the normal spring total of around 421 hours.
But it has been perilously dry - with the least rainfall between January and May since the 1960s and barely any recorded so-far this month.
Since the start of spring there has been just 127.2mm of rainfall on average in Scotland, less than half the usual amount, and since the beginning of May just 3.2mm.
Meanwhile, in Leuchars, Fife, the Met Office has not recorded any rainfall since April 18 - a record which will change at the weekend.
Amid the unprecedented dry spell, Scot have been urged to use less water and the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) has imposed a series of warnings.
And, despite the forecast rain of between 30 and 50mm over the weekend to bump readings up, water levels are not expected to be replenished.
Eilidh Johnston, the environmental watchdog's senior manager in water industry and rural economy, said: 'Some of Scotland's most iconic rivers are at record lows, and the environmental impacts are clear.
'A few days of rain will not undo months of drier than average weather.
'We will need well above average rainfall over a sustained period to see any recovery, especially in the east.
'It has been the driest start to a year in Scotland since 1964.
'Fife has had no significant rain for over a month, and ground water levels are some of the lowest on record for the time of year.
'So, we're seeing some quite significant issues coming.'
Yesterday Sepa bumped even more river catchment areas to their moderate warning level, bringing the total to 17.
It comes as the River Tilt in Tayside is at its lowest flow in 34 years of records, and the River Spey has seen its lowest flow since records began there in 1953.
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