UK weather: Rain set ease for weekend as sunshine returns

Our analysis of rainfall data shows that parts of East Anglia and the south-east of England have been very dry.

Across the county of Essex, around a fifth of the rain we’d usually expect by this time in spring has actually fallen.

In the month of March, rainfall was broadly below average in eastern and south-east England, April has started even drier.

According to Met Office data, between 1 – 14 April there has only been 4.5mm of rain compared to the average of around 20mm for the time of the year

In contrast, Western Scotland has had around double of its normal April rainfall so far.

During March things were broadly average across Scotland but a succession of weather systems in April has brought a lot of rainfall.

Looking just at April, an average of 70mm fell across the whole of Scotland compared to the 40mm you’d usually expect at this stage of the month.

While a lot can change in the second half of spring, the mostly dry weather is likely to continue into next week.

Droughts and hosepipe bans featured widely in 2025 after the driest spring in 50 years and the hottest summer on record.

But in late March 2026 – after one of the wettest winters since 1836 – the Environment Agency confirmed that eastern England the last region still in ‘recovery’ to ‘normal’ conditions.