Voting takes place on May 6th across Britain with Scottish and Welsh parliamentary elections, Mayoral and local councils. If you've not postal voted, what's the weather for Thursday? It's snowing in Scotland
What's the best time to pop out to vote on Thursday 6th May? It will be another nippy day wherever you are.
General elections usually avoid the winter months as bad weather might affect turnout. It turns out that holding the Scottish Parliamentary Election in early May could still encounter snowfall. On Thursday, May 6th 2021, voting will take place for the Welsh Parliamentary election, local council and Mayoral elections in England, including the Mayor of London. For those who haven’t opted for a postal vote in these COVID times, then the trip to the polling station is going to be chilly. The cold flow from the northwest continues, bringing a scattering of showers, but you might be lucky and miss them, keeping the sunshine.
Two things happen on Thursday synoptically. An elongated low pressure slides in from the Atlantic, moving over northern France. That will bring early cloud and perhaps a little showery rain to the south coast of England. SW England looks most likely to see patchy rain. It then clears. The second feature for Thursday is a small low pressure that moves down through eastern Scotland and will have brought rain and snow overnight to northern Scotland as temperatures fall several degrees below zero. Gradually there will be a scattering of showers of rain, hail and hill snow with a strong north wind from the Western Isles down to the Irish Sea. There will be a scattering of showers for Wales and England but not everywhere and wintriness over Snowdonia and the Peak District.
The main focus of the showers will be for Scotland, northern and eastern England.
Showers will come and go through the morning for Manchester and Liverpool, with some heavier downpours lasting into the afternoon but fading by the evening. Temperatures will be around 10C, so feeling cold but still with strong warm sunshine. You can track the progress of the heavier showers on the Netweather Radar if you want to nip out at lunchtime to vote and avoid a downpour.
London - the Mayor of London, constituency London Assembly Member and London-wide Assembly Members
London will see temperatures of 13 or 14C in the sunnier times with only light winds. The strong sunshine will make it feel warmer, but the air is still cold. There will be one or two showers about in the middle of the day, but these fade by the evening. Chilly after dark.
Wales - the Senedd /Welsh parliament election
There will be a lot of fair, dry weather on Thursday, but it will feel cold in the NW breeze. In the morning, the wind will bring showers to north Wales with snow for Snowdonia. A few of these showers will make their way inland, easy to watch their progress on the Netweather Radar. Temperatures will be low at 9 or 10C, with the sheltered south seeing 11C, 12C for Cardiff.
Scotland – the Scottish Parliament election
Once again, there will be snow as people wake up for northern Scotland, including Aberdeenshire and the A9. This air is cold. The main band of wintry and wet weather pivots southwards through the morning, reaching the border before lunchtime. The showers will be scattered by then but include hill snow, hail, and some heavy rain. There will be strong north winds, even gales for the west coast, around the islands here and through The Minch. The weather will ease down by the evening, with polling places closing at 10pm but many areas not starting their count until Friday morning.
A cold day across Britain, but a fair amount of fine weather with strong sunshine for England and Wales. Showers interrupting this mainly for north Wales in the morning and through the day for northern England, Lincolnshire into East Anglia. A wintry tinge to Thursday’s weather for Scotland with showers spreading south.
