Shropshire Star

Chilly start to April expected after March sunshine

The new month will feel colder in the wake of the warm weather seen last week.

Published
Spring weather

March is said to come in like a lion and go out like a lamb, and the final few days of the month are likely to be calm – if not quite as sunny as last week, the Met Office has said.

While the nation was getting used to life in lockdown, the weather was apparently teasing the UK with days of sunshine while most people were stuck indoors.

The mercury peaked at 19.4C (66.9F) last Wednesday in north Wales – about 8C above average for the time of year.

But the sunny spell was chased away by bitter winds over the weekend, and temperatures were set to dip below freezing in parts of the country overnight.

It will still be a bright start on Tuesday, with some patches of frost, and staying mostly dry throughout the day, the Met Office said.

The first few days of April will also feel significantly colder, with the thermometer sitting a couple of degrees lower than normal.

Met Office meteorologist Luke Miall said: “We will see spells of sunshine, cloudier skies at times and a few showers may affect eastern England, eastern Scotland and maybe northern Scotland as well, but the vast majority will be dry.”

It is a similar picture on Wednesday, with temperatures hitting 11C (51.8F) or 12C (53.6F) at their warmest.

From Thursday, windier weather is expected across northern England and Northern Ireland, with some heavy showers hitting Scotland and snow on higher ground.

Spring weather Mar 29th 2020
The sun rises behind Albert Bridge in London on Sunday (PA)

Despite the chill, the weather is due to settle on Friday as the high pressure that has been dominating the UK’s air flows returns, bringing a dry day across the country.

“It is going to be a chilly feel most of the week really,” Mr Miall said.

“No uncommon temperatures but definitely feeling cold – it will mainly be feeling cold because of how warm it was last week.”

He added: “Temperatures are slightly below average for the time of year but near where they should be.

“Towards the end of the week highs will be peaking at 10C (50F) in the South with the North looking at 6C (42.8F) to 8C (46.4F) – a couple of degrees down on where we should be.”

The bright calm weather seen last week was due to a patch of record-breaking high pressure sitting across the UK.

“It gave us plenty of clear blue skies, lots of sunshine and fine weather,” Mr Miall said.

“The high pressure was influencing our weather because it was just slightly to the east of us.

“It meant the winds were coming around from the east and the south-east which is a warmer direction than this week, where they are coming down from the north.”

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