CNN
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Numerous waves of showers and thunderstorms will move across the United Kingdom over the next several days, leaving those celebrating King Charles III’s coronation to dodge the rain over the weekend of festivities.
King Charles will be officially crowned during an ornate and deeply religious ceremony in London this Saturday, the same weekend the UK will see “unsettled” weather “with showers or longer spells of rain for many,” the UK Met Office said in a press release regarding the coronation forecast.
“Friday will be a day of sunshine and showers, which could be heavy and slow moving at times with some thunder, lightning and hail,” the Met Office said. “The showers will affect most parts of the UK, including London, with some more persistent rain affecting parts of eastern Scotland.”
Saturday is also expected to be wet for much of the UK with showers spreading in from the southwest. Rain chances increase in London by late morning (just as the coronation begins) and continue through the afternoon period.
“On Saturday we will see some heavy rain moving into the southwest in the early hours which will move north eastwards through the morning. This is likely to bring some rain to London by around lunchtime,” Met Office Deputy Chief Forecaster Steven Keates said.
As coronation festivities continue into Sunday and Monday, more rain is again in the forecast.
Despite the rain chances, high temperatures in London will be near average through the weekend, reaching 17 to 19 degrees Celsius (63 to 66 degrees Fahrenheit). Low temperatures overnight will bottom out around 11 to 12 degrees Celsius (52 to 54 degrees Fahrenheit).
This will be very mild compared to Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation day, which had a high temperature of just 11.8 degrees Celsius (53 degrees Fahrenheit), even though it was in June (1953), according to data from the Met Office.