Britain basks in balmy 73F temperatures as Bank Holiday ends (2024)

Brits will be basking in balmy sunshine with highs of 73.4F (23C) today as settled weather continues, before summer officially ends and rain moves in on Friday.

Dry weather continues today with spots of cloud across the country, as people enjoy the last of the Bank Holiday sunshine.

Sunshine and warm weather saw Britain's beaches packed with Bank Holiday sunbathers enjoying the August weather, as clouds stayed away for London's Notting Hill Carnival, pride events and Reading and Leeds festival over the weekend.

And rain will continue to stay away, with today stayingmostly dry, with some warm, sunny outbreaks in the south, peaking at 23C near Bristol and Cardiff.

Coastal areas to the east of the country will be cooler with temperatures in the high teens and low 20s, between 62.6F (17C) and 59F (15C).

Bank Holiday Monday should see little rain, as the high pressure system continues to dominate the country's weather, with it staying warm and 'settled'.

Any light spots of rain in northern England this morning will ease, although some drizzle may continue to hang on in the northeast of the UK.There may even be a short shower hitting Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

Met Office meteorologist Greg Dewhurst told MailOnline that the biggest change is coming at the end of the week, as the country enters Meteorological Autumn. Rain will move in from the Atlantic, bringing wet weather to Northern Ireland and Scotland first, with it hitting the north of the UK on Friday.

This will include some 'heavier bursts' and 'longer periods of rain', then spreading across the country by Saturday and Sunday.

While it has been a 'record breaker of a season' with 104F (40C) highs, the country is now moving into its next phase, explained Met Office meteorologist Dan Stroud.

'We are now heading towards the end of Meteorological Summer,but we are doing so in a rather warm and quiet note,' he said.

'It's a fine and bright start for many of us on Monday morning, especially in the west. further east we are seeing some pushing westwards from the North Sea and that cloud is thick enough to give a few outbreaks of light rain and drizzle in places.

'Now with the best of the sunshine in the west, that is where we are likely to see the highest temperatures during the course of Monday —so feeling pleasantly warm there.

'Where we see that thicker cloud in the east, temperatures down a little on recent values. So remaining dry but cloudy Monday evening, again with a few clear spells developing across the west and the south.'

The Met Office has also warned of brisk winds along the south coast today, between 15 and 20mph, with some localised gusts up to 35mph.

Ms Stroud added: 'Settled conditions will continue into Tuesday with high pressure continuing to dominate the weather over the coming few days.

'While that high pressure cell is fairly weak, we are still likely to see some cloud and some rain in the forecast at times, but that rain mostly light.'

There may be some early drizzle and low cloud in the northeast, with possible showers of rain in the afternoon in some northern areas. It will feel warmest in the southwest, and cooler in northeast.

Mr Stroud added: 'Looking a little bit further towards the end of the week, there are hints that the weather may turn more unsettled from Friday, from the north and the west, with rain for many of us.'

The north of the country will see temperatures drop into the evenings, with cooler nights with a few heavy showers possible across the country by Friday. Coastal areas in the south and east will feel coolest, with central areas more sheltered from the onshore winds.

Yesterdayholidaymakers flocked to the UK's beaches in the sun, as the Bank Holiday continued to bring good weather before the return of schools at the start of September.

Temperatures remained in the low 20s, with highs of 77F (25C) in parts of London and the west of the country, including Liverpool and Bristol.

The warm temperatures will continue into the week,before unsettled weather arrives from the west by the weekend.

Dry conditions yesterday were welcomed by the tens of thousands of festivalgoers at London's Notting Hill Carnival, with today's dry conditions continuing into the carnival's second day.

A Met Office spokesperson told MailOnline: 'On Bank Holiday Monday, there is a bit of a split between the south west and north east. It will be cloudier overall but the best of the sunshine will be seen in western areas such as Wales.

'Further north-east it will be cloudier with a higher risk of showers, particularly in the north east of England.

'Temperatures will be a bit chillier in the north under the cloud, we're looking at in the teens to low 20s'.

Tens of thousands of revellers have been at the Reading and Leeds festivals between Wednesday and Sunday, with the rapper Dave and the Arctic Monkeys among the headliners.

Festivalgoer Rod Leith, 65, said that he has seen the weather improve at Reading Festival over recent years.

He said: 'I've been coming here since 1976. The festival now is larger, and the music has become more diverse, but other than that it's much the same as it always was. There are more stages than there were, and the weather seems to be much better these days.'