There is cooler air from the north as many people return to work after the long weekend. This week starts with lower temperatures and the risk of a touch of frost for northern Britain on Tuesday night, NE Britain by Wednesday night. The flow will gradually shift to a southerly and it will feel warmer for England and Wales later this week as temperatures reach the high teens. There will be showers with a lot of fair, bright weather, but no sign of heavy and persistent frontal rain this week. Friday could bring some slow-moving, sharp showers.
Looking back, the Bank Holiday weekend was mixed with sunshine, rain and a good deal of cloud. The top weekend temperature was at Kew Gardens, London, on Saturday at 23.2C. Writtle in Essex saw the highest temperature on Sunday with 21C, so 70 Fahrenheit but Lerwick saw a nighttime low of -0.1C. Durham saw 31.6mm of rain in 24 hours as heavy showers surged northwards and away over the North Sea. By Bank Holiday Monday, it was another chilly start in the far north with Highland Scotland down to -2C. Little Rissington, Gloucestershire saw 29.8mm of rain on Monday.
Met Office anomaly rainfall data showing comparision to average amounts - very dry for SE Britain
April 2026 was warm and sunny and particularly dry for some parts of the UK with high pressure often nearby..
“Several counties experienced one of their driest Aprils on record, including Cambridgeshire (second driest), Norfolk (third driest), Bedfordshire (fourth driest), Essex (fifth driest) and Kent, Hertfordshire, Northamptonshire and Greater London, all seeing their sixth driest.” Met Office
Netweather Radar rainfall totals for April- showing drier conditions in SE Britain, wetter for NW SCotland and W. Ireland
East Anglia saw just 4.0mm of rain, 10% of its average April total and making it the third driest April on record for the region. The record is from 2007, when only 1.0mm of rain was recorded.
Northern England saw around half its average rainfall for April. Scotland was the only UK nation to see above‑average rainfall, with northwest Scotland seeing more rain in the first half of April, thanks to a flow off the Atlantic.
The radar shows how this week will often pan out with a mix of gaps in the cloud allowing warm sunshine and fine spring weather. Also areas of more cloud with clusters of showers. The showers over northern England and eastern Scotland are associated with a little feature moving down the North Sea, trailing fading fronts southwards over Britain today.
There is colder air from the Arctic behind a cold front and this air will be noticeable for the next two mornings in the north and northeast. Look after any tender plants that you might have popped outside. There are thunderstorm and heavy rain warnings over France today with some warmer, more humid air. A few showery outbreaks can be seen on the radar reaching over southwest England this morning but they drift away southwards in the overall flow from the north.
Wednesday
This is another mixed day with a lot of fine, bright or sunny weather. However, there will be areas of cloud and a scattering of showers over eastern England in the morning, which might reach London by teatime. Also heavier showers for Cornwall and Devon, Pembrokeshire up into western counties of Northern Ireland. The air will feel cooler. London should see 18C today but only 15C tomorrow. Leeds at 16C today but down to 12C tomorrow. If you are in a sunny spot, it will feel pleasant but in the shade or with more cloud around, the air will feel cooler.
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