London faces up to 14 HOURS of rain as downpours soak southern England

06/05/2024

Britain faces a washout bank holiday Monday today with the South East bearing the brunt of the bad weather and downpours in London for almost the whole day.

Heavy rain is due to begin at 8am in the capital and will last until midnight with only a few pauses, with the Met Office forecasting 14 hours of rain over a 16-hour period.

Temperatures will only get up to 15C (59F) across London and it will remain cloudy with only a few sunny spells, while showers could turn thundery in the afternoon.

But in the sunshine elsewhere, the temperature is likely to hit the high teens – and East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire will see the warmest spells with highs of 21C (70F).

Meanwhile drivers have been warned to expect heavy traffic on ‘mayhem Monday’ as millions hit the roads on a glum day following the bank holiday weekend.

london faces up to 14 hours of rain as downpours soak southern england

Spectators gather in the rain to watch the cheese races in Shaftesbury, Dorset, yesterday

A very wet day on Weymouth seafront in Dorset yesterday during the bank holiday weekend

The Met Office is forecasting 14 hours of rain over a 16-hour period in London from 8am today

The North will have a cloudy start to the day with some brighter spells and heavy showers developing.

Wet weather leads to foreign holidays surge

Britons hoping to escape the rain are making last-minute foreign holiday bookings for the two long weekends in May and the half-term holidays.

A fifth of business reported by independent travel companies at the moment is for departures this month – well above average for the time of year.

Kelly Cookes, chief commercial officer of the Advantage Travel Partnership group, told The Times: ‘We’ve had a mix of people who have been looking at the weather for this weekend and booking super last-minute as well as people who are planning something for later in the month. But across the board demand for May is really strong, up 10 per cent on last year.’

She added that the wet weather had played a ‘major role’ in the surge.

And the South will start with sunny spells before heavy showers and thunderstorms move in through the afternoon.

Met Office meteorologist Greg Dewhurst said: ‘Overall, it will be a mix of sunny spells and showers across the country. Anywhere could catch some rain so people should be prepared for that.

‘For people looking to get away, there will be some sunshine and warm spells. And if you manage to avoid showers, then it will be nice in the sun.’

Although there are no Met Office weather warnings in place today, the Environment Agency has 40 flood alerts in place for England – all of which are in the South East.

Also today, more than 2.6 million motorists face being stuck for hours on motorways at the end of the three-day weekend.

The RAC has warned drivers to avoid making journeys from 10am to 3pm because the motorways such as the M5 will be at their busiest.

And families were encouraged to plan their journeys in the early morning or evening as they warn of the busiest bank holiday since the end of the pandemic.

Alice Simpson from the RAC said: ‘With Covid travel restrictions a thing of the past, catching up with friends and family is still the first priority.’

Looking ahead to tomorrow, high pressure will build and bring a largely dry day for most areas with a few showers in the afternoon and highs of 20C (68F).

The Environment Agency has 40 flood alerts in England today with all of them in the South East

Settled conditions will continue for many into Wednesday with high pressure in charge and 19C (66F) highs, although there could be some rain for the north of Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Wet weather leads to foreign holidays surge

READ MORE Bank Holiday Monday mayhem: 2.6m motorists warned there could be roads chaos at the end of three-day weekend

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