Sunshine for bank holiday

Temperatures for next Monday's May Bank Holiday could rival the 23C reached over the past two days.

Forecasters say that after a fall in temperatures tomorrow and Wednesday, the sunshine of the last few days should be back again.

But there is bad news for the nation's 12 million hayfever sufferers, who have been taken by surprise with the pollen count rising to levels usually only seen later in the year.

Clive Burlton, national forecaster at the Met Office, said: "Tomorrow there will be some showery outbursts, particularly to the east of London. It will be cool and cloudier. It will be the same on Wednesday but with a bit of a breeze. That will move away on Wednesday and on Thursday there will be a brisk breeze. Into Friday there will be some cold about but it will also be quite bright and dry. The weekend should be warm again."

Mr Burlton added: "It is certainly warm at the moment and great for this time of year. It's above normal temperature by 6 or 7C."

Beverley Adams-Groom from the National Pollen Research Unit at University College, Worcester, said: "We need warmth and rain to bring the pollen count down. I don't think it's going to be quite as bad as last year."