Horsham holds record temperature for late May Bank Holiday

Weather watchers will be keen to see if the late May Bank Holiday gets near or even beats the record temperature - recorded decades ago in Horsham a few days before D-Day.

The warmest late May Bank Holiday Weekend on record is officially 32.8degC, recorded on Bank Holiday Monday itself on May 29 1944 in Horsham, Tunbridge Wells and Regents Park.

Martin Young, Deputy Chief Meteorologist at the Met Office said: “Although temperatures will rise into the mid to high 20s for southern and central parts of England and Wales, with a small chance of temperatures pushing 30degC, it looks unlikely that we will see the warmest temperature records broken.

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“However, there is a 50/50 chance we may see the warmest day of the year so far at some point towards the end of the weekend.”

St James Park, London currently holds the record for the warmest day of the year in 2018, with 29.1degC recorded on April 19.

There will be plenty of fine, warm and sunny weather over the weekend and although the best of the sunshine will be across Northern Ireland and Scotland, it’ll feel warmest across southern England and Wales, where temperatures here could rise into the high 20s.

These high temperatures will also bring the risk of thunderstorms over the weekend. Not everywhere will feel the heat however, with eastern parts feeling much cooler due to north easterly winds blowing in from the North Sea.

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Not everywhere will stay dry through the weekend however, with the risk of some heavy and thundery showers mainly across the south and south west of the country. Chief Meteorologist Andy Page said, “There is a risk of potentially severe thunderstorms during the Bank Holiday weekend. These are most likely to affect the south and south-west of the country, however exact location details are uncertain at this stage.

Impacts from heavy downpours are possible, however are likely to be localised.

Beyond the weekend high pressure and the easterly winds remain in charge into the half-term holidays, with many places seeing a continuation of the very warm, dry spell with the possibility of a thundery shower breaking out somewhere.