Bank holiday Monday scorcher smashes record held for almost 20 years

Suffolk luxuriated in some of the hottest temperatures in the country as previous records were smashed for the early May bank holiday Monday.

Highs of 27C (almost 81F) were recorded at Santon Downham, near Thetford, by the early afternoon – on a par with the hottest of hot spots across England.

Temperatures eased past the previous Monday record of 23.6C in 1999 – and almost surpassed the hottest ever bank holiday weekend, in 1995, when temperatures peaked at 28.6C on the Saturday.

Those of us returning to work after a long weekend may be unruffled by the prospect of changeable conditions for the rest of the week.

Temperatures are expected to fall only slightly on Tuesday, but will feel decidedly chillier as the week progresses – dropping into the teens and bringing the possibility of rain over parts of the county.

Jim Bacon, managing director of Weatherquest, based at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, said: “These hot spells often happen in May, but the chances of it happening on three consecutive days over a bank holiday weekend are pretty rare.

“Because the winds have been so light, it’s largely of our own making, but the warm air would have originally come here from the south.

“We will get further spells like this throughout the summer.

“It’s not that unusual – it’s likely to be repeated. But we can expect typical British summer thunderstorms.

“There’s no strong signal one way or the other, but we’re looking towards a slightly less settled trend, with temperatures near or above average.

“It will turn more changeable, but temperatures will stay a reasonable 26C on Tuesday, before an early evening cold front comes in to freshen up the air a lot – so we might get the odd isolated shower.

“From then, we’re looking at the mid to high teens, with fronts meandering about in the middle of the week, bringing the chance of showers.”

A number of events basked in Monday’s sunshine across the county – from the conclusion of a bank holiday weekend Medieval Festival at Framlingham Castle, to the Felixstowe Rotary Fun Run, the Mendlesham Street Fair and the Art for Cure event at Glemham Hall.