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Brace yourselves: the UK’s coldest May in 25 years is on the way

Thought summer was already here? Bad news: temperatures could plummet to -5C next week

Ed Cunningham
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Ed Cunningham
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Even by UK standards, the last few weeks of weather have been utterly bonkers. We’ve had blizzards, storms and ‘blood rain’, but also heatwaves and balmy summer sunshine. It’s reached low single digits and well above 20C.

If you thought we’d now be heading into a more conventional spring and early summer, well, think again. Next week could see temperatures drop as low as -5C, with frost and snow in some areas. It could be the coldest start to May in 25 years.   

The cause of the huge drop in temperatures is a 1000-mile-long weather front blowing down from the Arctic. While the mercury is likely to drop to -5C at night in Scotland and northern England, Wales and the south could also see sub-zero temperatures. Even in the daytime, wind chill is likely to make warmer temperatures feel significantly colder.

In short, it’s going to be pretty damn chilly, which feels especially rough after our mini Easter heatwave and the sunshine that followed last week. Here’s hoping we get another one of those soon, eh?  

You can find a more detailed weather forecast at the Met Office here

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