After the rain, the bank holiday looks brighter

Britain is set for a sunny May Day bank holiday, forecasters said today.

But they predicted the weather this summer will be variable with hot spells punctuated by heavy rain.

It will be cold and wet in the capital for the rest of this week but over the weekend it will begin to heat up.

By Monday temperatures in the South-East could reach 21C, only a shade cooler than last Saturday when they rose to 21.9C in central London. A Met Office forecaster said: "It's going to be very unsettled and cool for a few days, with spells of heavy rain.

"However, over the weekend things will change and by the end of the bank holiday weekend it's going to become very warm." The Met Office's long-range summer forecast predicts higher than average temperatures and more rainfall than normal. Very heavy rainfall is improbable.