Provisional early statistics from the Met Office show that for the UK as a whole it has been the sunniest April since their records began in 1929.
This has been the result of persistent high-pressure systems over or close to the UK resulting in an extended spell of fine, dry and sunny weather since late March.
Another impact of the dry, sunny weather is the difference it makes to the soil moisture and the World Climate Service map above shows the soil moisture anomaly in the 0-28cm layer across Europe in the week ending 22 April. Much of Europe has very dry soils for the time of year with a notable exception across Iberia, and you can clearly see the contrast between France and Spain.
May has begun with scattered heavy showers; some with hail, thunder and rainbows. The weather patterns for May indicate plenty of mixed weather is on the cards with only a low chance of the dry, sunny sustained weather of April making a repeat appearance.
Early in the week commencing 4 May, we are expecting a spell of heavy rain for parts of Ireland, Wales and England, but this weather is unlikely to reach Scotland. In fact, Scotland could be mostly dry for the first week or two of the month.
Looking ahead to seven days starting from 9 May, a mostly northerly flow means quite a chilly week across Europe for the time of year. The Met Desk map in the summary image shows the temperature anomalies for the period, with widespread blue shading indicating below average temperatures relative to the long term average.
The temperatures should return to near average values for the last 10 days of the month, but the general expectations for the UK and Ireland for May are that it'll be cooler than average for the middle part of the month, with a low risk of any heat wave and mostly dry for Scotland in the first week, possibly extending into the second week.
Meanwhile, further south across Spain, it's looking hot for the first week of the month with day time temperatures peaking in the low 30s Celsius.
We'll return in a few weeks to look at the prospects for June's weather.
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