THE half-term break will likely see temperatures rising following days of miserable wet weather, forecasters say.
While a yellow weather rain warning remains in place for northern Wales and western England today, conditions will likely pick up as the school holidays come closer towards the end of the month.
Couldy and rainy weather prevails today with a risk of thunder, ahead of a drizzly night with mist and fog.
Tomorrow will see the misty conditions clearing to leave sunny spells and showers, which will turn heavy with a risk of thunder in the south.
And while there is still a chance of showers in the coming weeks, the bleak conditions will likely clear up by the time school holdays come around.
This year's half-term falls between May 27 and May 31 for England and Wales, meaning that, including the weekends either side of this period, youngsters can look forward to nine days off.
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This period will likely be warmer than average, and could see temperatures in the mid-20s, forecasters say.
Met Office spokesman Stephen Dixon told The Sun that long-range forecasting signals are "muted" this time of year, making it difficult to make precise forecasts for weeks away.
But he said there would likely be a "typical mixture from the 25th onwards" with a "mix of sunny spells and showers".
"One thing to note, temperatures as we get towards the end of the month are likely to be slightly above average, with the average increasing as we move through May into June," he said.
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"That doesn't rule out periods of wetter weather."
He added that forecasting precise temperatures at a range of several weeks away is "just not possible", but in general we will see "above average" temperatures in late May.
"We could see things into the high teens, low 20s for some, and possibly mid-20s depending on meteorological conditions."
Sunny spells and showers will be the general theme for the period around half-term, Mr Dixon said.
The Met Office's long-range forecast predicts the period of May 20 to May 29 should start on a "reasonable note" with a fair amount of dry and bright weather, especially in the south.
Northern and western parts of the country will be cloudier, with a risk of "some showers or spells of rain" at times.
The rest of the period will likely see "fairly typical conditions", with northern and western areas often most at risk of outbreaks of rain.
Further south and east will see the "best of the drier and brighter interludes", forecasters say.
"There is a risk of showers even here though which at this time of year are prone to being heavy with occasional thunder," they added.
"Temperatures will probably remain a little above average."
The period of May 30 to June 13 will likely see similar conditions, but temperatures and rainfall are more-likely to be a "little above average overall, with a fairly mixed bag seemingly most probable".
There could also be further rain and thundery conditions at times, but also some spells of increasingly warm sunshine when it's not raining.
The May half-term for Scotland fell between May 6 and May 7.
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Northern Ireland has May 6 and May 27 as bank holidays.
England has May 27 to May 31 as half-term dates.