Unseasonable warmth to fade for bank holiday weekend as unsettled weather returns

After unseasonable warmth for many on Friday, temperatures will take a tumble into the long weekend as unsettled weather moves in.

It comes as the early May Bank Holiday weekend is set to be the busiest on the roads for 10 years, according to the RAC motoring group.

Saturday is predicted to see the heaviest traffic on major roads, with more than 4 million journeys expected.

On Friday, a cold front will push eastwards across the UK bringing cloud, showers and cooler air across Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and western England. Some of the showers could be heavy and thundery.

Ahead of the front in central and eastern areas it will be dry for much of the day with more sunshine and the highest temperatures.

Parts of south-east England could hit 26C, while the East Midlands and Yorkshire reach 24C. Eastern Scotland will be slightly cooler at 22C.

By Saturday, most of the UK will be in the cooler air.

After Thursday marked the warmest day of the year so far in Scotland - with temperatures rising to 23.9C in Achnagart in the Highlands - Saturday will bring afternoon highs of only 13C.

Elsewhere, apart from eastern England, temperatures won't rise much past the mid teens.

Through the morning, showers are forecast across Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and western England. Across Northern Ireland, and Scotland they could be heavy and thundery.

These will become more widespread across eastern and southern England into the late afternoon and evening.

While there will be plenty of cloud, there should be some sunny breaks later in the day towards the west.

If you are looking for sunshine and warmth, then it could still be dry for much of the day for south-eastern counties of England and East Anglia with temperatures in the low twenties. However showers arriving later in the day could be very slow-moving and long-lasting due to light winds.

The focus for the heavy, thundery downpours on Sunday will be across the southern half of the UK in England and Wales.

There will be a high chance of lightning in the east and south-east of England.

Northern Ireland and Scotland will be mostly dry but cloudy with the chance of some sunny spells later.

Bank Holiday Monday is looking rather grey and cloudy in general but there will be some sunshine emerging at times, especially in northern Scotland, Northern Ireland and north-west and south-west England.

Across southern and central counties of England, it could be cloudy with some light showers for much of the day.

Temperatures will reach similar levels as Sunday - so much cooler than of late but around the seasonal average.

With a weak area of low pressure overhead, there is a lot of uncertainty in the precise forecast over the weekend for any given area and the details are likely to change day on day.

Keep an eye on the forecast for your local area here.