Britain shivered through its coldest May night in five years as temperatures plummeted to minus 6.1C, the Met Office confirmed. Widespread frost greeted residents across Scotland, parts of northern England, and Northern Ireland on Wednesday morning.
The mercury dropped furthest in Altnaharra, located in the Scottish Highlands, while sub-zero conditions were also recorded in Shap, Cumbria, and Castlederg, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.
While Wednesday is expected to feel cooler overall, with dry and bright spells for many, the forecast indicates warmer weather later in the week. However, this reprieve comes with a warning of potential thunderstorms.
Met Office forecaster Alex Burkill also predicted outbreaks of rain in Wales, south-west England, and western Scotland.
It's been the coldest May night in the UK since 2021 🥶
— Met Office (@metoffice) May 6, 2026
Temperatures dropped below freezing in parts of Scotland, northern England and Northern Ireland.
Did you need to scrape frost this morning? pic.twitter.com/Y15jIm85aF
“There’s actually going to be a lot of dry weather around and even some brightness, some sunshine breaking through the cloud albeit it’s not going to be anywhere near as sunny as it was through much of last week,” the Met Office forecaster said.
“And we also have some colder air that’s coming through, plunging down from the north.
“It was a chilly day in the north yesterday (Tuesday) for the time of year and, quite markedly, temperatures will be down a few degrees compared to yesterday further south as well, highs of around 15C or 16C at best, so those temperatures are a little bit lower than average for the time of year.”
Temperatures have tumbled since Friday, when a high of 25.4C was recorded at both Heathrow Airport and Kew Gardens in London – meaning parts of southern England were hotter than Tenerife.
But they look set to rise again towards Saturday, when highs of 22C are forecast in London and parts of southern England.
The Met Office said the weather would stay largely dry for many towards the weekend, but that conditions were then set to become more unsettled and windy.
As low pressure built, there was an increasing chance of heavy showers and longer spells of rain, with thunderstorms possible on Saturday.
