First signs of summer on way with sunshine and 19C expected by weekend

The Met Office has said that Thursday through to Saturday will be particularly pleasant, with above average temperatures for this early in May.

With long sunny spells expected on Tuesday, Wednesday is the only day with significant, patchy rain forecast for some areas.

Met Office meteorologist Kathryn Chalk said: "The high pressure will start dominating this week across the UK, so that will bring generally fine and settled conditions and temperatures on the rise, but we do have some weather fronts that are going to be toppling over the north of the UK, and some of this could bring outbreaks of rain and cloud across Northern Ireland, mostly on Wednesday.

"For Tuesday, it should be a largely dry day across much of Northern Ireland with good sunny spells, perhaps turning hazy at times with cloud building, but we’ve got highs of 17C tomorrow (Tuesday) across Northern Ireland so it’s still feeling warm in the sunshine."

Ms Chalk said the average temperature across the UK is around 15C or 16C for this time of year.

"Through Wednesday we’ve got a bit of a frontal system moving across the north – in Scotland but edging into Northern Ireland as well – so a dry start but rain edging in from the west through the afternoon, bringing some patchy outbreaks of rain, but still highs of up to 18 degrees.

"But from then onwards, turning drier for Thursday, Friday and into Saturday, with plenty of bright or sunny spells and light winds as well, and feeling warm. We could see highs reaching up to 19 degrees.”

The Met Office forecaster added: "So once we get Wednesday out of the way it should be feeling a bit more spring-like, but it doesn’t last long.

"It looks like from Sunday and then into the following week the high pressure starts to weaken, with a return to less settled conditions.”

The improvement in the weather this week follows a bank holiday mixture of sunshine and torrential rain across Great Britain.

Weather warnings were in place for parts of central and southern Scotland, Wales and part of England on Monday, amid concerns that downpours could make driving hazardous, with a chance that homes of businesses could be quickly flooded.

Forecasters also said there is a small chance of fast flowing or deep floodwater causing danger to life, while power cuts are also possible and lightning strikes could damage buildings.

Like Northern Ireland, the rest of the UK can expected fairly bright and settled weather as the week progresses, with temperatures even higher in the south of England – reaching as high as 23C or 24C by Friday and Saturday.

Commenting on the wider UK picture, the Met Office said: “It will not be wall-to-wall sunshine but the weather will be much more settled.”

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