UK weather: 600-mile storm mapped to end 'mini heatwave'

Millions of Brits are set to be hit by a huge this weekend which will bring a sudden end to the .

Terrifying maps have shown practically all of the country will be hit by a deluge of rain as the bank holiday weekend gets started with a soggy start. The cold blast will douse the wall-to-wall sunshine which has so far bathed the UK for much of May and set new records. With the dip has come intense and occasionally stormy rainfall which now looks set to continue over the next week, with Saturday looking particularly soaking wet.

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The concerning maps from WXChart, a forecasting service which uses images taken from MetDesk, show the huge 600-mile band of rain stretching practically across the UK.

The ’s forecast for the weekend, including Saturday, reads: “As we head into the bank holiday weekend and following week, a change in type is expected.

“More unsettled conditions are likely to develop, with weather systems moving in from the Atlantic. The change is likely to happen first in the northwest, probably later on Friday or through Saturday.

“This will see frontal systems bringing spells of rain, perhaps heavy at times, with a risk of strong winds in places, and these conditions will gradually spread across the UK as we go through the weekend.

“Drier and brighter intervals are likely between systems but with showers.”

The maps show the heaviest rain will be in Northern Ireland in the morning and spread east into by the afternoon.

The forecast bucks the trend for much of the rest of May, which was nearly an entire degree above the seasonal average, the Met Office found. In a report issued last week, the agency found the mean temperature for spring so far was 8.77C, roughly 0.69C above the season average.

The report came just under two weeks after the hottest ever May 1 temperature was recorded, with the mercury hitting a sweltering 29.3C at Kew Gardens.

Today’s forecast has a cloudy start for many but will turn brighter for most during the afternoon with some warm sunny spells. A few showers are likely today, mainly in the north, with a few thunderstorms perhaps developing across northern England and Wales this afternoon.

Tonight showers will gradually ease this evening and dry for most tonight before turning a little chilly under clear spells. Skies will be cloudier in some northern and eastern areas.