Freezing temperatures over the Bank Holiday weekend have forced winemakers to burn huge paraffin candles by their vineyards to stop grapes from icing over as the Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for 65mph winds and torrential rain tomorrow.
Vitaculturists at The Grange Hampshire vineyard lit their candles, known as bougies, in the early hours of yesterday morning during a period of frost.
A team of 10 local lighters were given an emergency alert at 2am in the morning and it took them about an hour and a half to light the 450 candles.
Once the sun comes up and the temperature reaches above freezing a different team will come and extinguish the candles.
And spirits across the UK are set to dampen as Britain is due to be blasted with 65mph winds and heavy rain tomorrow as the Met Office issued a weather alert and a freak hail storm left the Isle of Wight looking like a winter wonderland.
Hail battered the Isle of Wight yesterday leaving the Newchurch area looking like it was in the depths of winter and covered in snow.
Jamie Russell, of the Isle of Wight Met Service, said: ‘It was amazing. I couldn’t believe it. I was on the southern side of a big rapeseed field near Shanklin when I noticed something slightly unusual happening in the general direction of Newchurch and headed over there.’
And across the rest of the country punters were forced to huddle under blankets and coats while dining with friends and family outside amid the torrential rain yesterday.
In Wallingford, Oxfordshire, diners braved the conditions despite the rain lashing their umbrellas during a very wet al fresco lunch.
A yellow weather warning is in place for Monday with gusts of up to 65mph forecast in Wales and the south coast of England, while showers will continue to batter the country.
Freezing temperatures over the Bank Holiday weekend have forced winemakers to burn huge paraffin candles by their vineyards to stop grapes from icing over
Vitaculturists at The Grange Hampshire vineyard lit their candles, known as bougies, in the early hours of yesterday morning during a period of frost
A team of 10 local lighters were given an emergency alert at 2am in the morning and it took them about an hour and a half to light the 450 candles
Once the sun comes up and the temperature reaches above freezing a different team will come and extinguish the candles
An extraordinary freak hail storm hit the Isle of Wight and covered the fields and streets in Newchurch turning the landscape into a winter wonderland
Jamie Russell, of the Isle of Wight Met Service, said: ‘It was amazing. I couldn’t believe it. I was on the southern side of a big rapeseed field near Shanklin when I noticed something slightly unusual happening in the general direction of Newchurch and headed over there’
Pictured: An almost cloudless sunrise on a cold and misty morning in Glastonbury Tor, Somerset
A misty and smoke-filled sky. Pictured: Viticulturist Samuel Philippot walks amongst the burning bougies at The Grange Hampshire at sunrise
A group of hardy pub goers enjoy an outdoor pint in the pouring rain outside The Cranberry Farm pub, in Exeter, Devon
People take to the river Cam in Cambridge to make the most of the sunshine as they go punting
Punters take to the River Cam to make the most of the sunshine before rain is set to hit the country tomorrow
A yellow weather warning for rain and wind has been issued, with the wild weather likely to last into Tuesday morning. Pictured: Sunrise in Glastonbury Tor
Families and visitors wearing waterproof jackets and carrying umbrellas brave the rain and flock to the at the seaside resort of Lyme Regis in Dorset
Visitors to Lyme Regis hold umbrellas as they flock to the beach
Zam Baring, CEO, The Grange Hampshire Wine said: ‘Frosty nights are all about horrible judgement calls. How cold is it going to be getting two or three hours’ time? How much damage will be done to the buds if we don’t light the candles?
‘And, if we do light the candles tonight, will we have enough left for what is coming down the line tomorrow night, the night after or even next week? It is undeniably a beautiful sight, but it’s a terrible sight too!
‘There were very bad frosts last year in 2020 during the second week of May and, despite working hard to counteract the cold, The Grange Hampshire suffered a more than 60 per cent reduction in yield over the previous year. We use around 1,500 candles each year.’
Temperatures will remain low for this time of year with lows of -4C, lower than the temperature in Russia, and forecasts of torrential rain and storms to start tomorrow.
Today will see a cold start but will largely be sunny with a few showers, some heavy. Eastern and northeastern UK can expect the heaviest showers this afternoon.
Tonight temperatures will drop and there will be clear spells and rural frost overnight. It will be windier in the west of the country with rain into Northern Ireland by dawn.
Tomorrow will see gusts of wind up to 65mph in Wales and the south coast of England as rain will continue to batter the continue.
Pictured: A freak hailstorm has left the Newchurch area of the Isle of Wight looking like it is in the depths of winter
Hail froze to the roads and grass, looking like snow was covering the Isle of Wight this weekend
Sunrise over the burning bougies in amongst The Grange Hampshire vines
Crowds flocked to the reopening of a popular car boot in smalley, Derbyshire, this morning in the chilly sunshine
Dozens of cars were seen blocking roads as they made their way to the popular car boot sale
A group of friends are seen sitting on a stone wall smiling and having a good time in Leeds on Saturday night
Two women sit down on the pavement in Leeds on Saturday night as people headed out to make the most of their weekend
Members of the public take to the streets in Soho tonight to make the most of their Saturday night
A waiter comes attends to a table in Soho, London, tonight as tables are packed with people out enjoying their Saturday night
A group of revellers hold drinks and smile together in Newcastle city centre this evening
Punters huddled under blankets and coats in the wet weather with diners still forced to remain outside due to Covid restrictions
The weather proved no obstacle to some who sat outside Britain’s pubs and restaurants on Saturday amid the pouring rain
And the rest of the week is due to remain fairly wet with a few sunny spells.
The cold temperatures follow the coldest April on record with the lowest average minimum temperatures for April in the UK since 1922.
Met Office forecaster Marco Petagna said: ‘There’s quite a deep area of low pressure coming in from the West on Monday. It’s pretty windy with some gales in exposed areas in the West’s coast and hills.
‘We could see a yellow wind warning being issued for Monday.
Three girls hug each other, with one clutching a drink, as they enjoy their night out in Newcastle city centre
A group of women pose together this evening in Liverpool as they wait to enter Circus night club to attend a Covid-19 pilot event
Revellers in Liverpool are seen drinking, smiling and taking photos together this evening as they wait to enter the Covid-19 pilot rave event being held at Circus night club at Bramley-Moore Dock
Diners in the Oxfordshire town of Wallingford brave the pouring rain for the chance to be together and to eat outdoors on Saturday
Huge numbers of people donned coats and hats to fight off the chill today as they made their way to the beach in Whitstable, Kent, to enjoy the sunshine
‘Obviously with lockdown restrictions coming down now there could be more people out and about so the impact could be higher than normal but certainly a very wet and windy day moving in from the West on Monday.’
The yellow weather warnings will see some delays to road, rail air and ferry transport. The Met Office has said that some bus and train services will probably be affected.
And damage to outdoor temporary structures is possible with some tree branches down too.
It’s likely that some coastal routes, sea fronts and coastal communities will be affected by spray and/or large waves.