Bank holiday weather: Spells of sunshine forecast for Platinum Jubilee weekend

While much of the country has experienced a wet and blustery start to the week, temperatures are set to rise just in time for The Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations at the weekend.

Britons will enjoy a four day bank holiday weekend from Thursday and events have been planned across the country, from a concert at Buckingham Palace to more than 200,000 'big platinum lunch' celebrations.

After weeks of unsettled weather, the Met Office has forecast that from Thursday, things look likely to be settling down for most with good spells of dry and fine weather, especially in the south, where the first official celebration - Trooping the Colour - will take place.

A low-pressure system means there will still be some showers in central and northern areas on Friday, but further south temperatures are likely to reach 22C.

Although still open to some uncertainty, more settled weather is on the cards for most of the country on Saturday and Sunday with patchy cloud and sunny spells, and only the odd spot of light rain, mainly across the far north.

However, the Met Office has warned of a chance of heavy showers in the south east for a time, depending on how a plume of warm air develops over the continent.

Met Office Deputy Chief Meteorologist Helen Caughey said: “While it may be an unsettled start for some with showers for northern and western areas, many areas will see generally settled conditions over much of the long jubilee weekend, with plenty of dry weather and good spells of sunshine. Temperatures will be widely into the low 20s, feeling warmer in the sunshine, although temperatures will drop off quickly into the evenings.

“The main source of any uncertainty for the weekend itself is to do with how far a plume of warm air to the south encroaches over southern areas of the UK. At present it’s looking like it could glance the far southeast on Saturday and Sunday, which would bring with it the risk of some showers, although the heaviest showers look likely to be contained over the continent.”

On Sunday, more than 200,000 local events will take place across the country as part of the Big Jubilee Lunch, including screenings, street parties and picnics.

Themes being planned include red, white and blue and dancing through the decades with a world record attempt for the longest street party and the biggest Big Jubilee Lunch.

More than 600 Big Jubilee Lunches are also planned in more than 70 countries across the world, from Greenland to New Zealand.

Watch: British town prepares to celebrate The Queen's jubilee