Blizzards in part of the south on May 11. 

That's the kind of scenario you need to break the all time lowest daytime May maxima record.

That would be horribly sloppy snowfall if it ever happened. Just miserable for this time of year!

Would be wonderful to see (as would heavy snow in June, or sleet in July - the latter not having happened for 100 years or so down here).

It won't happen though - but I do wonder whether when this cooler spell eventually comes to an end whether there might be a "blow out" event just before it ends!

It certainly makes a real change to get a prolonged cool spell such as we're having now. No frosts for a while, but the "ice warning" message has been a regular feature on my car in the mornings... and given the mid-August sunshine that we're experiencing it feels remarkably pleasant, very reminiscent of being in the Rockies with the low humidity, strong sun and cool air.

Looks like we'll get another 6 days of this pseudo-mountain climate here, but not sure how much longer it can cling on!

GEM brings some heavy snow to Northern Scotland on 4th May.

I think your best chance is an evap cooling event. Completely stagnant air and constant precipitation. The airmass is cold enough but can't do all the work. 

Grim:

We finally have a few spots of rain and the smell of petrichor!  It seems strange getting that summer smell in April.  

Looks like my end of Kent could get to have the first soaking rain for a month tomorrow night if some of the models are to go by on, but outputs are varied with some showing a deluge while others are showing the rain completely missing Kent. 

Maybe the 2021 Scottish Ski Season isn't over after all ! 

Or maybe an earlier start to the next season at this rate? 

As it stands, it looks like at least the first half of May will reverse the rainfall shortages in a very big way.

Just a high-based ploppy shower here recently so not really laid the dust.

Meanwhile I am expecting some rather slack southerly tracking LP to set up in the next couple of weeks.

That may deliver what you are hinting at as we move steadily towards the monsoon season.

Still very localised - 60 miles further south and absolutely nothing - even though there's some hope for later this afternoon.

16-dayer - Europe still cocooned in below average temps from Spain to the Urals and currently esp cold in Norway; actual temp improving slowly but still looks to be below norm through week 2. More rain now being shown: week 1 in two areas, a band (again) from Spain to Urals plus a blob around southern Britain, week Currently N2 more of a large blob for France, southern Britain and up to the Baltic.

GFS - Current trough from  Scandi to N Sea stays around and intensifies N Sea Tue 4th;then Atlantic influence with series of shallow LPs moving across UK up towards Baltic and finally sticking over UK from Wed 12th, all contriving to keep the UK in a generally N-ly flow. By Fri 14th warm both E and W of UK but static cold at home.

GEFS - 6 or 7C below norm for coming weekend , most runs slowly rise to just below norm by end of run Fri 14th but there is a small cluster of very warm outliers for England around Mon 10th. A slightly drier (showery?) spell around Mon 3rd (very little rain i the N at this time) otherwise frequent spells of rain at various times in different runs (several with very large totals for Scotland).

ECM - similar to GFS though LPs from the 4th are better defined and deeper; Tue 4th 990mb N Sea, Fri 7th 980 mb Scotland, Sat 8th developing in SW approaches

May starts very unsettled ( ECM ) 

Deep into FI from GFS ..................no better 

GFS ENS ( 0z) nothing to get excited about , first half of May looks poor 

Agreed. Cool and unsettled sums it up. Looks like there'll be quite a lot of rain around for those that need it. I just hope that this is a 2 week blip and that the weather settles back down again later in the month. 

Had this been a transition to cold weather in December the GEFS35 would be getting a lot of praise for picking it up so early. The unsettled first half of May has been signalled for several weeks.

Can you be more specific with your "copious rainfall" comment? When I picked you up on this the other day you admitted what you meant was average rainfall. 

What sorts of quantities do you consider copious? Several inches for the SE? Torrential storms? 

I'm seeing similarities to 2007. 

It would be an absolue disaster for what is left of our wildlife.

Every second that ticks by while this winter continues, extinguishes millions of insects that will never be born or mature. There will not be enough insects for many birds.  That is why you see less and less swifts, swallows and alike every year.  We are already on the razors edge.

The Field cricket (Gryllus campestris) that we have spent millions on rescuing from the brink?  They sing in April and May on warm nights.  We have not had one warm night!  Any eggs laid later than mid May are not expected to mature in time for winter at this latitude.  It is likely that this insect has been lost this year.  Funds will not be made available again to rescue it now the climate is so F***d and unpredictable.

This is not a 'thing' that would be wonderful to see in my book.  This is lose, lose , lose.