After basking in sunshine over the Easter weekend, the UK is set for blustery and unsettled weather as a band of rain is expected to hit the country from the West.
The Met Office has warned that the warm spell will come to an abrupt end on Easter Monday, with gales possibly following in some places later next week.
Although temperatures were expected to top this year’s record of 17.8ºC, the mercury fell just half a degree short. Despite this, the UK was still hotter than Rome, which reached 16ºC, for a second day in a row.
The band of rain is due to drift across the Irish Sea and bring blustery showers to the West coast on Sunday evening, moving to much of the UK on Monday, with a risk of hail and thunderstorms in some areas.
But wet weather is likely to be interrupted by sunny spells for many.
The temperatures are unlikely to climb above 15ºC on Monday and will be even cooler on Tuesday and Wednesday, with an expected maximum of 13ºC.
A yellow warning for wind has been put in place from 3pm on Tuesday until 6am on Wednesday across the south-west, Wales, the Lake District, the east coast of Northern Ireland and Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland.
Gusts could exceed 95kph. The warning will remain in place in the south-west and parts of South Wales until midnight on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, “we do have quite a deep area of low pressure moving in bringing further rain in from the south-west", Met Office meteorologist Honor Criswick said. "We could see some heavy downpours."
Ms Criswick said winds would begin to decrease on Thursday.
The sudden change in weather comes after people flocked to parks, beaches and beauty spots over the Easter weekend to soak up the sun.
