THIS year’s Bank Holiday gloom has seen beaches and parks deserted during an 18C chill – just one year after a record-breaking 33C scorcher.
Brits are set to experience the coldest August Bank Holiday Monday on record with frost following a weekend washout.
This year’s cold snap makes for a contrast with the same time last year, when the UK was basking in a 33C heatwave.
Last year’s August Bank Holiday Monday which was the hottest on record, with 33.2C recorded at Heathrow.
Pictures from beaches across the UK today showed empty shorelines as Brits stayed away.
The same beaches were packed this time last year.
Regarding this weekend’s weather, Meteorologist Gregory Dewhurst said: “The start of the weekend, we are looking at a largely fine day for many but we’ll see showers in the east and west cost of the UK, while inland is more likely to be dry, but much better than what we have seen recently.”
The Met Office said it will be drier and sunnier on Sunday, while it will be noticeably cooler, particularly overnight.
“Sunday will be a dry day across most of the UK, the wind will be lighter,” Mr Dewhurst added.
During last year’s holiday sizzler, thousands flocked to parks and beaches as the mercury soared.
The temperature broke the record for the hottest late Bank Holiday weekend ever – smashing the previous record set 18 years ago in 2001 when the mercury reached 31.5C.
The temperatures meant the UK was hotter than Honolulu, Hawaii.
Millions of leisure trips are expected to clog up the UK’s roads as rain and gale-force winds hit the country this weekend.
The RAC said 18 million car journeys would be taken this weekend as families enjoy last minute staycations and day-trips before schools return.
The Bank Holiday weekend also kicked off with power cuts after the Met Office warned of thunderstorms.
Ahead of the holiday, Plymouth City Council has been grappling with a “biblical” downpour which saw around three feet of water flooding some areas, leaving main roads underwater
It advised people to prepare for possible flooding in their homes by moving possessions and valuables off the ground and to not walk or drive through fast-moving water, as it warned the areas around Ruswarp Pleasure Boats are most at risk.
