The weekend's weather is set to be quite changeable, with a mix of rain, wind, and occasional sunshine across the country.
Saturday will begin with a band of rain sweeping eastwards across the UK. While this initial rain will gradually clear, it will be followed by patchy rain and drizzle, particularly affecting western upland areas. Central and eastern regions may enjoy some brighter spells, especially in the lee of hills, where conditions could turn locally warm and muggy.
However, increased humidity could trigger a few heavy showers during the afternoon. Later in the day, more persistent and heavier rain is expected to arrive from the west, accompanied by strengthening winds.
Winds will be picking up in strength over the bank holiday weekend 🌬️
— Met Office (@metoffice) May 22, 2025
In particular, be prepared for very gusty conditions if you're travelling to parts of Scotland pic.twitter.com/oPEHpPvA0e
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As night falls, another band of rain will move eastward across the country, becoming heavy at times. The northwest may even experience isolated thunderstorms. Behind the rain, clearer skies will develop from the west, although scattered showers will persist, particularly in northwestern areas. Winds will remain strong, with a risk of coastal gales.
Sunday will bring a brief respite as early rain clears eastwards, giving way to a mix of sunny spells and blustery showers. These showers will be most frequent and intense across Scotland, Northern Ireland, and northern England, where hail and thunder are possible.
Winds will remain moderate to fresh across much of the country, with strong gusts along coastal areas and a continued risk of gales in the north. Temperatures will start mild but are expected to settle near seasonal averages. The northwest may feel rather cold, while the southeast could remain relatively warm.
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Met Office presenter and meteorologist, Alex Deakin, said: "The first set of weather fronts crossing the country Friday night bringing a dull and damp start for many, but this zone of rain, which will be heavy for a time, should be clearing away out into the North Sea. May take a while before it clears from East Anglia and the southeast, but generally turning a bit brighter through Saturday for many before we see showery rain returning to many western areas.
“There’ll be some brighter spells coming through, a little bit of sunshine most likely in parts of the east, but generally fairly cloudy conditions, and we’ll see those showers coming and going, particularly in parts of the west. Temperature-wise, still reasonably mild and feeling quite humid certainly through the morning. We're looking at 19–20°C. That's a little above average still, but, feeling cooler than it has done for most of May so far, and it's going to turn cooler as the weekend progresses.
“The next weather system moving in will be bringing some rain on Saturday night across Northern Ireland. We will see some gusty conditions during the early hours of Sunday across the northwest of Scotland. Quite a blustery morning there, nothing exceptional, but unusual for the time of year.
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“So, blustery in the northwest, a breezy day everywhere. There’ll be showers in most places as well, but there will also be some sunshine, and parts of the south and the east may not see too many showers. Good chunk of England and Wales may actually be largely dry through Sunday afternoon, and in the sunny spells across the southeast, where the winds will be lightest, it'll feel reasonably pleasant. We could see highs of 20 or 21°C.
But the showers will be pretty frequent for Northern Ireland, northwest England, western Scotland, even the chance of the odd rumble of thunder. They will tend to zip through because it will be quite breezy here, but certainly feeling cool with temperatures struggling to get into the teens and feeling cooler with that wind.”
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