May 7th: Well the country may have made up its mind by voting but the weather hasnt it seems. Is it spring, almost summer or still winter? Snow fell today in places in central Wales such as at Abergavenny, with temperatures staying well below average. The first week saw temperatures about a degree and a half below average overall and that trend looks very much set to continue until mid month; though it should be fairly dry overall it is not looking especially sunny.  

May 8th Braemar (Highlands) fell to -6.0C early today .. probably the second coldest temperature ever recorded on this date (the record was -7.8C). Look out for more of same this coming week.

May 9th: Air space remains closed in a number of places still; Northern Italy was the latest area to see flight disruption yesterday whilst the UK looks set to see more airports close this week, joining some in northern Scottish air space today. The question some are now asking is how long would the volcano need to erupt to start affecting the climate? In one form or another this has been going on for about six weeks now. I would have thought that anything more than around about a 3 month eruption would start to have at least some observable impact but because the ash is all within the troposphere this makes it less likely- it's the stratospheric eruptions (for example Pinatubo) that tend to cause global climate change for a couple of years.

May 12th: The cold nights continue across much of the UK with Altnaharra (Sutherland) down to -6.0C on the 11th and Redesdale (Northumberland) -4.9C on the 12th. It has been suggested this is the widely the coldest period of nights  in May in the UK since 1996. Grass minima were around -9C in places on both days and quite widely -5C which has caused damage to a range of unprotected tender crops very widely. However, further very cold nights now seem unlikely.

May 15th: It has been both dry but chilly so far this month with very little rain in places & this dry pattern looks set to continue until the months end.  

May 20th: Temperatures are on the increase across the UK at present under a large area of high pressure but Gurteen in Ireland was the warmest place today reaching 24.4C. In the UK however, Brooms Barn nr Bury St Edmunds reached 24.3C. The next few days may see 26-27C reached locally before the next week sees temperatures plummet again for the Bank Holiday weekend! Though somewhat dull overall , it has remained dry though with just 62% of the average rain in the first 2/3rd's of May across England and Wales, and just 37% across Northern England , according to Philip Eden.

May 21st A warm night for some, St Angelo in N Ireland didnt fall below 16C and London Heathrow saw a low of 14C. Temperatures quickly rose in the morning reaching 20C in places by 9am. Hereford though saw the highest temperature by the afternoon reaching 25.7C

May 22nd: As it continues to heat up Copley (Durham) reached the 80F marker today.. maxing at 27.7C

May 23rd And so it goes on: Santon Downham (Norfolk) reached 28.4C today. London's Olympic Park reached 28.8C but it not an official UKMO station. Tomorrow will be the last day of the heatwave though for the moment, when 29C may be reached in the south.

May 25th: Yesterday saw London Heathrow reach 28.8C- so not quite 29C. Much cooler weather has moved south now so these temperatures will not be seen again for a while, although a very respectable 22-24C may be reached today in the south still some 6-7C above average. In fact Tyndrum in the Highlands saw a minimum of  -4.4C last night and -7C on the grass, close to the all time minima records for this time of year. The key factor producing these extremes is the strong sunshine, daylight length and the notably dry ground in many areas, which allows for easier storage of heat by day and then strong re-radiation by night.