Wash out fear as Harrogate hospitality sector keeps an eye on wet weekend weather forecast

New retro eaterie opens in Harrogate town centre with nostalgic theme from 1950s

When non-essential shops reopened from a tough three-month lockdown on April 12 - along with oudoors eating and drinking - the arrival of spring and the greatest amount of normality since last autumn seemed to offer the opportunity for them to make up for the challenges of a last 14 months dominated by Covid restrictions.

The town's traders were optimistic of making up for lost time and lost revenue.

But they also said the footfall they needed was dependent on the conditions and questioned whether bars, cafes and restaurants could profit from reopening for customers outdoors if the weather was poor.

Since then there has been much bright weather but it's also been unusually chilly with the recent May Day Bank Holiday being the coldest in 43 years with 65mph winds and 14 hours' rain

Having spend time and money erecting canopes and installing heaters, Harrogate traders have been pulling out all the stops in recent weeks to tempt people to come back out and eat and drink and shop in Harrogate town centre.

The news this weekend is that the weather forecasts are far from encouraging for customers and businesses with recent cold temperatures stubbornly refusing to budge upwards on Saturday, though Sunday should be a better day.

Tomorrow, Saturday is expected to see a strong breeze pushing bands of heavy rain north-eastwards in the morning, a pattern which does not change in the afternoon.

There should be an improvement on Saturday evening with rain expected to ease from the south, though cloud will linger.

See below for hour by hour guide to Saturday's weather.

SATURDAY

9am

Temperature: 5C

Chance of rain: 71%

10am

Temperature: 5C

Chance of rain: 90%

11am

Temperature: 6C

Chance of rain: 96%

Noon

Temperature: 6C

Chance of rain: 96%

1pm

Temperature: 7C

Chance of rain: 95%

2pm

Temperature: 9C

Chance of rain: 90%

3pm

Temperature: 10C

Chance of rain: 85%

4pm

Temperature: 11C

Chance of rain: 79%

5pm

Temperature: 12C

Chance of rain: 76%

6pm

Temperature: 13C

Chance of rain: 69%

7pm

Temperature: 13C

Chance of rain: 58%

8pm

Temperature: 13C

Chance of rain: 53%

9pm

Temperature: 13C

Chance of rain: 46%

Sunset arrives at 8.50pm

As for the weather forecast for Sunday, things are expected to pick up a bit. Temperatures will stay in double figures all day and rain will be lighter and less frequent with a gentler wind.

See below for hour by hour guide to Saturday's weather.

SUNDAY

9am

Temperature: 13C

Chance of rain: 54%

10am

Temperature: 13C

Chance of rain: 52%

11am

Temperature: 14C

Chance of rain: 45%

Noon

Temperature: 14C

Chance of rain: 40%

1pm

Temperature: 14C

Chance of rain: 36%

2pm

Temperature: 15C

Chance of rain: 31%

3pm

Temperature: 15C

Chance of rain: 27%

4pm

Temperature: 15C

Chance of rain: 26%

5pm

Temperature: 15C

Chance of rain: 24%

6pm

Temperature: 15C

Chance of rain: 21%

7pm

Temperature: 15C

Chance of rain: 20%

8pm

Temperature: 13C

Chance of rain: 18%

9pm

Temperature: 12C

Chance of rain: 16%

Sunset arrives at 8.50pm

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