Why is it raining so much? UK's bad April weather explained

Winds could soon reach speeds of between 60-70mph around western coastal areas

Though spring is technically upon us in the UK, it may not look (or feel) like it outside – and the upcoming forecast doesn't look too great either. 

The UK has experienced wet and windy weather conditions during the Easter weekend. Travel disruption hit as heavy downpours arrived in central Scotland, with a Met Office yellow weather warning for rain running from Friday between 2am and 9am.

This will continue into Saturday, as the storm rolls in. 

Met Office meteorologist Greg Dewhurst said that winds could reach speeds of between 60-70mph around western coastal areas.

He explained: “Winds pick up further through Friday evening, overnight into Saturday, whereas we start Saturday morning, we’ll see widely across the country gusts of 30-40mph.

“In western parts of the UK, inland, we could see gusts of 40 to 50mph and then around the western coast of the UK we could see gusts of sort of 60-70mph.”

London however, is expected to be more settled. Met Office forecasters predict a warm Saturday filled with numerous sunny spells.

The winter of 2023/2024 has broken the record for the wettest period, as the eighth wettest on record in the UK according to the Met Office.

The south of England experienced its wettest February in 2024 since 1836, and England has recorded its fourth wettest February on record, although February 2020 was even wetter.

The wettest day ever recorded in Britain was 5 December 2015.

But why is it raining so much? 

Why is it raining so much?

Speaking to the BBC, weather expert Simon King says one thing to blame for the wet weather right now is the jet stream, a fast-flowing wind high in the atmosphere - which is bringing rainy weather across the Atlantic Ocean to the UK.

The jet stream blows from west to east, but the band often shifts north and south because jet streams follow the boundaries between hot and cold air... It is currently south of the UK and we can expect drier (and maybe even warmer) conditions when it either weakens, or moves to the north of the UK.

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