Parts of UK get rain for first time in weeks

There were downpours on Friday night after as many as 30 days without rain in some areas.

Someone with their brolly up — Some areas have gone as much as 30 days without rain (Ben Birchall/PA)

Parts of the UK have had rainfall for the first time in more than 30 days after an unusually dry spring.

Friday night brought downpours across most of the country – with more rain expected over the bank holiday weekend.

According to the Met Office, Leuchars in Fife went 34 days without rainfall, while people in Bradford, West Yorkshire, did not see rain for 31 days until Friday night.

Haweswater reservoir in the valley of Mardale, Cumbria — Water levels in Haweswater have dropped amid recent dry weather (Owen Humphreys/PA)

Meteorologist Becky Mitchell said: “We’ve had a very dry spell of weather recently with high pressure and charge.

“Last night we had a bout of rain through most places in the country. Most places saw around 5-10mm of rain and some northern areas had more, about 15-20mm across parts of Scotland and north west England.

“Up until May 23, the UK had only had 8.5mm of rain, which is 12% of the monthly average. At this point in the month we’d expect it to be quite a lot higher.

“Last night’s rain won’t have brought May much closer to average. That being said, we still have a week left of May and we expect to see rain every day, so by the end of the month we could be closer to the monthly average.

People punting along the River Cam in Cambridge — The rainfall comes after an unusually dry spring (Joe Giddens/PA)

“Next week we will continue to have wet conditions. Most parts of the country will see rain most days. We’ve got bands of rain pushing in from the west each day, and also some scattered showers.”

There is also some drier weather around, she added, with southern England most likely to see sunnier days on Sunday and Monday.

Temperatures will widely be around 15-18C next week, but parts of southern England could hit 22C.

London is expected to reach 21C on Wednesday and Thursday, while areas of Scotland such as Aberdeen will only reach 14C.

A view of near empty beaches at Fisherman’s Walk in Bournemouth — Good weather will return at the end of the half-term break (Andrew Matthews/PA)

Forecasters are warning that heavy winds on Saturday night into Sunday could create difficult conditions for campers over the long weekend.

There are no weather warnings in force but the winds could reach 50mph in some northern areas.

Ms Mitchell said the changeable weather will last at least a week, but there are signs of drier and more settled weather returning after the school half-term that runs until June 2.