Weather and climate change

Headline:

Changeable with showers or longer spells of rain this weekend.

Today:

Rather cloudy for most with outbreaks of rain or showers, possibly heavy and thundery, especially over Northern Ireland. Driest in eastern England with warm spells of sunshine here until later with rain soon arriving from the south.

Tonight:

A wet end to the day in the south with outbreaks of rain, locally heavy, pushing across England and Wales. Cloudy for Scotland with showers in Northern Ireland slowly easing.

Sunday:

Persistent rain pushing northwards, mainly lingering in northern England. Sunshine and showers, locally heavy, breaking out in the south with the driest conditions across Scotland.

Outlook for Monday to Wednesday:

Further showers on Monday, heavy and thundery. Turning cooler into early next week with a mix of sunny spells and showers, but these generally lighter than the weekend.

Updated: 04:00 (UTC+1) on Sat 2 May 2026

A fairly quiet start to the period looks likely with many areas seeing a good deal of dry weather. That said we are unlikely to see a return of the completely dry and warm weather we have see in recent days, with clear or sunny periods and showers more likely. Toward the latter part of the period a trend toward more changeable weather is favoured although there should still be some drier intervals. After a cold start to the period, especially in the north, temperatures likely returning close to average later.

Updated: 13:00 (UTC+1) on Fri 1 May 2026

Low pressure systems are likely to dominate across the UK at the start of this period. This means showers or longer spells of rain are likely at times, heavy in places. There will, however, be some dry and warm interludes, although temperatures are likely to be close to normal overall. Later in the month, more settled and drier conditions may begin to develop, with temperatures perhaps rising slightly above normal.

Updated: 14:00 (UTC+1) on Fri 1 May 2026