Merseyside will be hit by rain and windy weather early this week but all of that is set to change just in time for the Grand National Festival races.
Monday, April 4, will be wet throughout the day with light rain mostly but outbreaks of heavier showers in the afternoon. However despite the gloomy weather and strong winds, the temperature will be milder than last week, with maximum temperatures of 11C.
In the evening it will remain cloudy, however winds will ease. With warmer temperatures throughout the day and into the night, it is likely to remain frost free, with highs of 7C.
The Met Office forecast for Tuesday is another cloudy and rather wet day. The rain possibly becoming more persistent later in the day as the winds also increase. It's getting warmer again though, with a maximum temperature 12C.
Winds will ease on Wednesday, with more sunny spells predicted and fewer showers. This theme will continue into Thursday and Friday, when the Grand National Festival starts at Aintree race course.
Currently no heavy rain is forecast for the Thursday, Friday and Saturday, so racegoers can look at swapping their umbrellas for sun cream.
It's not set to be a scorcher, with highs of 8C, but so long as it remains dry, many attending the Grand National will be happy. The Met Office has reported that the UK had its sunniest March since 1929 this year.
As high pressure and clear skies reigned over the UK for much of the month, it brought in an average of 166.1 hours of sunshine. Dr Mark McCarthy of the National Climate Information Centre said: "March has again illustrated the typical variability of the UK’s climate, with some cold conditions at the start and end of the month separated by a long spell of mild and settled weather.
"The record-breaking sunshine figures were largely brought on by a very large area of high pressure that sat over the UK for much of the month, at times also covering much of Europe. This brought clear skies, mild days, but also some cool nights and some frosts.
"We’ve seen the warmest weather of the year so far with 20.8C recorded in London on 23 March, but we also saw a low of –9.1C at Aboyne at the start of the month, highlighting the variability of March in the UK."
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