UK weather forecast: Wet and windy start to bank holiday weekend as public urged to avoid beauty spots

The UK is set for an unsettled start to the bank holiday weekend, with wet and windy weather for many people, as the public has been urged to stay away from beauty spots despite a slight easing of coronavirus lockdown measures earlier this month.

The Met Office has forecast a windy start to the weekend across the whole of the country, particularly across Scotland, following the hottest day of the year so far on Wednesday, when temperatures reached a peak of 28.2C.

Simon Partridge, a Met Office meteorologist, said the UK should expect “a mixture of sunshine and blustery showers” on Saturday before conditions gradually improve over the weekend.

Sunday is likely to begin with some wet weather in Northern Ireland, western Scotland and northern England but there should be some sunny spells around with highs of 22 to 23C, mainly in the South, Mr Partridge said.

“A ridge of high pressure extends across the whole of the UK on Monday, bringing with it lots of fine, dry and sunny weather across the majority of the country,” he told The Independent.

Although temperatures will be down from the highs seen earlier this week, Mr Partridge added that highs of 26C were possible in the South and temperatures could be as high as 20C as far north as Aberdeenshire on Monday.

The forecast came after Matt Hancock, the health secretary, warned on Thursday that the public must “renew [its] efforts” to slow the spread of Covid-19 over the bank holiday weekend, following two months in lockdown.

“Over the course of this pandemic, people all across the UK have been making difficult but vital sacrifices for the greater good. So let’s not go back to square one,” Mr Hancock said.

Tourist bodies and residents of coastal towns have expressed concerns over a potential influx of visitors hoping to make the most of more lenient lockdown measures.

The UK government said earlier this month that people could meet one person from outside their household in a park if they stayed two metres apart.

The public have also been told they are now allowed to drive to parks and beaches in England so long as they observe social distancing while there.

However, local officials have warned popular tourist destinations will not be able to cope with large numbers of visitors this weekend.

The Norfolk Coast Partnership has sent out a plea to the public to stay away from its coastline for the moment so the area is not “overwhelmed”, while Cumbria’s local resilience forum has said the county is not yet ready for visitors to return “in their usual numbers”.

“I continue to urge people to keep their Lake District plans on hold as we grapple with the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak in the county,” Colin Cox, Cumbria’s public health director, said.

“I understand that people may feel their individual visit won't cause a problem, but when thousands of people have the same idea then that has the potential to create genuine issues.”

Additional reporting by PA