Most Britons enjoy rain-free Bank Holiday

Scotland enjoyed the best of the sunshine yesterday as much of Britain experienced a rain-free Bank Holiday.

While most of the country remained dry, cloudy conditions scuppered hopes of a real taste of summer.

Kinlochewe in the north west highlands saw afternoon temperatures climb to 20C, while Chivenor in north west Devon hit 18C, Trawscoed, west Wales, reached 17.7C and Taunton, Somerset, was 17C.

Matt Dobson, forecaster for MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said: "Scotland has had a glorious day, especially north of Glasgow and Edinburgh. It's been a bit disappointing across central and eastern England, with plenty of cloud but not much sun around.

"South west England, south and west Wales have seen pretty good weather, with Cornwall and Devon having a much better day. Western beaches could sneak a 20C by the end of the day.

"However, south east England and East Anglia along the coast has been quite cloudy."

Temperatures from the north east to the Kent coast were likely to remain between 10 and 13C.

Rainy weather and cooler conditions are forecast tomorrow as Britons return to work, but warmer, sunnier weather is expected to appear in the middle of the week and will probably last into the weekend.

Mr Dobson said: "Pretty much most places across the UK will wake up to a wet start tomorrow, but then brighter weather over northern Ireland will move into western areas of Britain during the afternoon. The eastern half of the country will have a cooler, cloudy, damp Tuesday.

"From Wednesday onwards, the weather will improve. It's going to be dry, with sunshine and temperatures hitting the mid-20s in the south and east of the country."

Britain experienced the coldest May since 1996, according to data collected by expert climatologist Philip Eden.

The maximum recorded temperature in the UK during the month was 28.8C at Heathrow in west London on May 24, while the lowest minimum was -6C at Braemar in Aberdeenshire overnight between May 7 and 8, and again at Altnaharra, Sutherland, overnight between May 11 and 12.

Average rainfall over England and Wales was 34.4mm, making it the driest May since 1991.