Sir Keir Starmer Caught in London Hailstorm as Cold Lingers
A hailstorm swept London on Wednesday morning as temperatures plunged across the capital, catching Sir Keir Starmer and Lady Victoria while they travelled from 10 Downing Street to the House of Lords for the State Opening of Parliament. The Met Office said London would hover around 12C for much of Wednesday, colder than Helsinki and Oslo despite both cities being farther north.
Londoners shared video of hail pounding pavements and gardens, and the forecast offered little immediate relief: the capital was expected to reach 14C on Thursday and 15C on Friday. Weather then pointed to a sharper turn, with highs of 24C forecast from Thursday, May 21, to Saturday, May 23, and temperatures staying above 20C into the following week, when many London schools enter May half-term.
Starmer and Lady Victoria
Sir Keir Starmer and Lady Victoria were among the people directly caught in the hailstorm as they made their way to the House of Lords for the State Opening of Parliament. The weather turned the short journey into a public reminder of how quickly conditions changed in central London on Wednesday morning.
For Londoners watching the forecast, the immediate picture was simple: the capital was pinned near 12C on Wednesday, then only edged up to 14C on Thursday and 15C on Friday. That left London below the 17C high predicted for Helsinki and even below Oslo’s 15C, a rare position for a city usually associated with milder conditions.
Met Office Forecast
The Met Office’s numbers gave the day its sting. London at 12C, Helsinki at 17C and Oslo at 15C placed the capital on the colder end of the comparison, while the hail that hit pavements and gardens added a visible sign of the drop.
Weather offered the contrast that followed: 24C highs from May 21 to May 23 and temperatures above 20C into the following week. For many London schools, that warmer stretch lines up with May half-term, so the sharp swing from hail to summer-like warmth arrives just as routines change.
Londoners and the warm spell
That shift is what people in London now have to read the week against. Wednesday brought hail and a 12C day; by next week, the city is set for conditions more often associated with late spring warmth than with a cold snap.
For anyone heading into central London, the immediate takeaway is not the hail itself but the speed of the swing: a cold Wednesday, a modest rebound on Thursday and Friday, then a warmer spell that should arrive before half-term week settles in.
