In Scotland the summer bank holiday is at the beginning of August, while the rest of us have to wait until the last weekend of August (though prior to 1965 we all holidayed in the first weekend of August). The question is, who has the best chance of some fine weather? At first glance it seems the Scots win, since the first weekend is usually hotter – the warmest days usually occur during the last two weeks of July or first two weeks of August. Meanwhile, the extra daylight hours make barbeques and camping a little easier. But with the hot weather comes an increased risk of a thundery downpour.
Roll on four weeks and the temperatures are far from bad – average daily maximums of 20C to 21C for the English home counties, and a couple of degrees lower in the north. And the sea is at its warmest then, making it an ideal time to have a dip. In reality there is no clear winner: both weekends have similar chances of being a washout or a scorcher.
One bank holiday we don't want to repeat is that of August, 1956. A cool northerly airflow meant temperatures failed to climb above 13C in London — the coldest bank holiday in the capital since 1880. And Tunbridge Wells in Kent suffered a spectacular thunderstorm which buried the centre of town in 30cm of hail, with drifts of hail up to 1 metre deep. By the end of the day the town centre was flooded under 1 metre of water.