Temperatures were to drop to as low as -10°C in the Highlands of Scotland on Thursday, but there is better news in the forecast with temperatures set to rise over the bank holiday weekend. It could even get as warm as 21°C in some areas, but there will be some unsettled weather over the weekend.
Bank holiday Monday looks to be the best day of the long weekend as high pressure starts to take charge. The Met Office forecasts says Barcelona will be 19°C on Monday and Rome will be 20°C.
Following on from a week of contrasts, the Met Office says increasingly warmer conditions will spread north eastwards across the UK following below-average temperatures earlier in the week.
Met Office chief meteorologist Steve Willington said: “The cold conditions from earlier in the week will linger longest in the far north of Scotland but the rest of the UK will see the transition to warmer, but more unsettled conditions. However, frost is still a possibility in central areas of the UK where cloud gives way to clearer spells.
“Following on from Wednesday’s largely cloudy conditions, two areas of rain will move in overnight. Western Scotland and the South West will see the first rainfall, which could be heavy at times. In Scotland there is a chance of transient mountain snow as the rain band spreading from the west bumps into the colder air to the north and east.”
Welsh BBC forecaster Derek Brockway says: "Rain on the way on Thursday, drier and brighter Friday. Warmer than recently over the bank holiday weekend with a mix of cloud, sunshine and showers."
He added: "First week of May drier than average thanks to high pressure with some sunny spells."
The weather maps are showing sunshine and highs of 16°C in Cardiff on bank holiday Monday and 18°C in Aberystwyth by next Wednesday (May 3).
Chris Almond is a deputy chief meteorologist. Talking about the lead into the bank holiday weekend, he said: “By Friday temperatures will have increased so that we will see values around 18-21°C across parts of the UK.
“The coming bank holiday weekend itself will be a mixture of brighter conditions and showers. These showers will tend to be heaviest and most frequent in the west on Saturday.
"On Sunday most locations can expect to see at least some showers, whereas on the bank holiday Monday the focus for showers is more likely to be the east, with drier conditions elsewhere. Temperatures will be reasonable and above average.”
The first half of next week is likely to be dominated by high pressure but plumes of humid air from further south could bring the prospect of some heavier and potentially thundery showers.
Meanwhile, temperatures in Europe could reach record highs for April today. Read more about that here.
BBC Weather says: "38C heat is not uncommon in Spain's summer - but in April, it's pretty crazy. The Spanish April temperature record stands at 38.6C and is under threat from this latest extreme heatwave."
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