Bank holiday weekend marred by storms, heavy rain and strong winds

As Britain's record-breaking summer draws to a close, the bank holiday weekend arrives not as a final celebration but as a reckoning — heavy rain, thunderstorms, and gales sweeping across England, Wales, and parts of Scotland from Saturday through Monday. The parched ground that absorbed weeks of exceptional heat must now contend with downpours capable of causing flash flooding, while millions who planned to spend the long weekend outdoors face a sharp reminder that the British climate rarely surrenders gracefully to expectation. It is, in the oldest sense, a very human ending: the season clos