Easter weather: Rain could put dampener on four-day weekend, Met Office warns | UK News
Rain could put a dampener on the plans of millions of Britons this upcoming four-day Easter weekend, forecasters have warned.
Experts say the weather is likely to be “unsettled with rain or showers” in most regions at points this weekend.
Southern and western areas are likeliest to have the heaviest and most frequent showers, according to the Met Office.
However, the forecast is not all doom and gloom, with some drier and brighter spells expected, particularly in northern areas, forecasters say.
It comes as Britons have been warned of long delays on their Easter getaways, with more than 14 million journeys expected on the roads and engineering works set to disrupt rail services.
The latest Sky News weather forecast
In their latest forecast for the weekend, the Met Office wrote: “The Easter weekend is likely to be unsettled with rain or showers in most regions at times, but also some drier and brighter spells.
“The heaviest and most frequent showers are more likely to be in southern and western areas.
“Later in the weekend, there is a chance of northern areas becoming drier with increasing amounts of sunshine.”
According to the Met Office, the Easter weekend is likely to be a “little warmer” than the coming week, which is forecast to be “unsettled, with rain” and chilly winds in some areas.
A yellow weather alert has been issued for most of eastern Scotland tomorrow morning, warning of rain and snow with the potential to cause disruption in places, mainly to travel.
What the weather is like in your area
The snow is expected to be focused over high ground, while there is a small chance that power cuts will occur and that some rural communities could become cut off.
A yellow weather warning has been for parts of Scotland on Tuesday. Pic: Met Office
Alongside unsettled weather, those hoping for an Easter weekend getaway have been warned of disruption to travel.
The RAC says journeys on popular routes could take twice as long as usual, as the bank holiday weekend leads into a two-week holiday for many schools.
RAC spokesperson Alice Simpson also warned it “could be carmageddon” over Easter and said heavy traffic and “lengthy queues can be expected along routes to the usual hotspots”.
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Train services are also set to be stopped in some areas, with Network Rail carrying out engineering works between London Euston and Milton Keynes on the West Coast Main Line – which stretches from the capital to Scotland.
That stretch of rail will be closed between Good Friday and Easter Monday, with disruption also expected in Glasgow and Huddersfield.
Laurence Bowman, Network Rail’s network strategy director, said there is “never a good time to do the work we need to do”, but explained that a lower number of commuters over the bank holiday weekend gives them “the opportunity to do major work we couldn’t do in a normal weekend”.