Summer to be delayed by over a month as atmosphere above North Pole will bring thunder and plunging temperatures

“Towards the south, winds could come together to provide a line of showers across and perhaps even the odd thunderstorms with some heavy downpours, but these will be hit and miss.

“The jet stream is weaker and tends to twist on its journey across the northern hemisphere and that makes it tricky to forecast weather patterns beyond five or six days.”

Meteorologists are still keeping a close eye on the North-Pole atmosphere for the emergence of a Sudden Stratospheric Warming (SSW).

The phenomena triggered by a change in wind direction causes the Polar Vortex – the mass of cold air over the Arctic – sink south over northern Europe.

This, as was the case during the 2018 Beast from the East, can drive extreme cold weather late in the season.

Current signals are still shaky, although a weak SSW could delay warm weather into the end of spring.

Jim Dale, meteorologist for British Weather Services and social commentator, said: “It is going to be something that might be hit and miss, but we could see a reversion to colder temperatures later in spring.