British Isles weather, May 2017

An area of low pressure moved away NE'wards from E Scotland during the 28th. The N half of the British Isles had a mainly mild night as rain cleared towards the NE to give a largely dry here - except for some light rain over Scotland. Across England, Wales and S Ireland rain pushed N'wards in the afternoon - with thundery outbreaks in parts of S England before midnight. Most areas had some sunny spells (with the best of the sunshine in East Anglia) although the day was generally rather cloudy at times in all areas. (St James Park 24.9C, Baltasound 11.0C maximum, Okehampton 6.0C minimum, Aultbea 10.0 mm, Shoeburyness 10.1 h.)

During the early hours of the 29th severe thunderstorms swept across SE England overnight, bringing intense thunder, lightning and heavy rain to the region. More than 120,000 flashes of lightning were recorded over northern France and south-east England in just 12 hours, according to the Met Office. A house in Staplehurst, Kent, was hit by lightning just after 0100 GMT, which exploded cables and set the roof on fire. In Folkestone, also Kent, another house was struck causing a power surge and total electrical failure to the home. A tower block in Stratford was struck by lightning twice; the strikes hit the Capital Towers shortly after 0100 GMT and were followed by further flashes. During the morning the rain moved N'wards with the storms moving NE'wards into the North Sea. Away from the far N of Scotland the day dawned after a mild night and frontal cloud and further rain the affected all areas at times during the day. In most areas it was a sunless day. (Frittenden 24.2C, Lerwick 10.1C maximum, Kinbrace 4.2C minimum, Upper Lambourn 21.4 mm, Manston 5.9 h.)

The 30th dawned rather misty in many areas of the UK with light rain and drizzle persisting in many areas after overnight falls across the British Isles. As pressure built across all areas during the day the rain and drizzle slowly faded away and, although it remained rather cloudy, most areas had some sunny intervals at times during the day. (Chillingham Barns 21.7C, Fair Isle 10.3C maximum, Lerwick 7.5C minimum, Wick Airport 11.0 mm, Guernsey Airport 9.7 h.)

There was mist and some fog patches by dawn across S areas of England, Wales and Ireland on the 31st - with a mild night in these areas and a cooler start to the day elsewhere. There was some light rain and drizzle at times overnight in parts of Wales, SW England and S Ireland - and there were further light falls in some places here during the day. It was a very sunny day across S Scotland and N England - with sunny spells over N Scotland and rather cloudier skies elsewhere. (Heathrow 23.0C, Fair Isle 11.9C maximum, Katesbridge 0.6C minimum, Llysdinam 9.8 mm, Leconfield 15.4 h.)