Suffolk and Essex set for ‘plenty of sunshine’ over bank holiday weekend

Hot weather in Felixstowe attracted thousands of beach-goers during the first bank holiday in May Picture: GREGG BROWN

Temperatures are expected to reach the 23-24C mark (around 74F), but there is a chance of some isolated thunderstorms in the region, especially on Saturday.

The weekend is not expected to hit the record-breaking highs of the early May bank holiday but the Met Office is predicting “a mainly dry” weekend for Suffolk and north Essex – which will become “warmer and more humid with plenty of sunshine”.

The warmest late May bank holiday weekend on record is officially 32.8C (91F), set on the May 29 1944 bank holiday Monday just a few days ahead of D-Day.

The second wave of warm weather is likely to see people once again heading to the shops to stock up on food for the barbecue.

Recent research conducted for Stokes Sauces, which is based at Rendlesham, near Woodbridge suggests that Britain’s love affair with barbecues is in no danger of burning out just yet.

The survey of more than 2,000 people found that more than one in five people attended their first barbecue of the year in January, 35% will carry on cooking in the rain while 12% have even set up in a car park.

On average, people spend £10.64 per person while hosting a barbecue and 43% would rather dump their old barbecue and splash out on a new one rather than clean the winter’s dirt off the grill.

Barbecue fans in East Anglia are 35% more likely to carry on despite the rain, and 35% have already having hosted or attended one this year.

Sausages topped the list when it came to favourite barbecue foods with 48% of people surveyed saying they enjoyed bangers best.

Beef burgers (45%) was a close second, with chicken kebabs (29%) third on the list.

A fresh mixed salad was named as the favourite barbecue side dish, followed by followed by coleslaw (38%), potato salad (37%) and bread (30%).

But barbecue-going Brits turned their noses up at couscous, with just 14% preferring it as a side dish and only 16% going for grilled halloumi.

The research also showed that it isn’t just burgers and sausages which are slapped on the grill, with ostrich, a full English breakfast and even a rabbit stew on the list of the more unusual dishes.