April weather more like winter than spring

Bank Holiday Monday is expected to be the most unsettled and windiest of the weekend.

In Scotland, there will be even more cold weather, with outbreaks of rain and hill snow arriving into the far north-west of the country by dawn.

After a day of unseasonal snow and sleet, Kent is set for another chilly day of wintry showers.

While late April has seen snow, the phenomenon is not as unusual as people might think.

Based on records from 1981 to 2010 the United Kingdom average is for 2.3 days of snow in April, which is more than the 1.7 days for an average November.

The Met Office said: “A spell of persistent and at times heavy snow is expected for parts of eastern Scotland, starting on Thursday night and lasting into Friday”. Temperatures over the weekend will warm up slightly by a degree or two, and on Friday it will reach 7C (45F) or 8C in northern England and 13C or 14C in the south-east.

And there are no signs of spring warming up just yet with widespread frost expected overnight.

“On Saturday and Sunday temperatures are going to be around 15C (59F), rather than 13C (55.4F) or 14C (57.2F)”. It should become cloudier and breezier later on, with rain possible by evening.

This week’s cold snap is to ease ahead of the Bank Holiday weekend with milder weather and no repeat of snow flurries which hit the capital.