Temperatures plummet 10C for bank holiday weekend after May record
While the weather is expected to remain largely dry, it will feel noticeably cooler than it has been this week, when temperatures reached a record-breaking 29.3C on Thursday.
Craig Snell, a Met Office meteorologist, said: 'Temperatures will range from low double figures in the north to the mid-teens in the south, with averages of around 10C in northern Scotland and 15C or 16C in southern England.'
'It will certainly feel a good deal cooler,' he added. 'The May sunshine is still strong, so it won't feel too bad if you're under the sun but if you're under the cloud it will feel markedly different.'
Sunday is expected to be the coolest day, when temperatures in parts of northern Scotland are forecast to stay in the single figures, with a peak of 9C.
Temperatures are expected to marginally recover by Monday, where many areas are forecast to be back in the mid-teens.
Some areas of the south coast may experience showers, but Mr Snell indicated 'a lot of the UK will be largely dry' over the weekend.
'There's a fair bit of dry weather around, a few spots of rain here and there, but nothing too widespread,' he said.
According to the Met Office's long range forecast, after the weekend there could be 'an overall warming trend' towards the end of next week.
For the remainder of the month, we can expect fairly typical spring weather, with fine and dry weather interspersed with showers and occasional heavy rain and thunderstorms.
This weekend's cool spell comes as the country saw its warmest start to May on record, with 29.3C recorded at Kew Gardens in Richmond, south-west London, on May 1.
The previous record for May 1 stood for 25 years, with a reading of 27.4C at Lossiemouth in Moray, Scotland, in 1990.
The Met Office announced the UK experienced its sunniest April since records began in 1910, with 47 per cent more sunshine hours than average.
Temperatures last month were also 1.7C above average, with a mean temperature of 9.6C, making it the third warmest April since records began.
March was also the sunniest on record in the UK, and experts predict this is part of a trend where warmer weather will be more common.
Emily Carlisle, a Met Office scientist, said: 'It is quite unusual for temperatures to hit 25C fairly widely in April. The last time was in April 2018, and before that was April 2011.
'Met Office UK climate projections indicate that hot spells will become more frequent in our future climate, particularly over the South East, with temperatures projected to rise in all seasons.'
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