‘Messy’ weather and payments glitch bring a Bank Holiday double whammy

Forecasters warned yesterday that most of the country should prepare for showers, with thunderstorms predicted in the South East tomorrow night.

A large band of rain is forecast across large parts of England on Sunday, before the weather improves on Monday.

More than 13 million drivers are expected to hit the road for trips over the long weekend, with congestion set to be worst yesterday evening, according to the AA.

Meanwhile, payments by one of Britain’s biggest banks seized up on the day when millions are expecting to receive their salaries and ahead of the bank holiday weekend.

With companies taking to Twitter to vent their fury, HSBC said it was working to resolve the glitch as quickly as possible and apologised to those affected. It has contacted the Bank of England.

According to the Met Office, a breezy day is expected across Yorkshire and the Humber today with a mixture of bright or sunny spells and scattered showers and the occasional shower.

Tonight, showers should become confined to the Pennines, with the rest of the region mainly dry with some clear spells.

The region should expect bright or sunny spells tomorrow but with scattered showers by the afternoon, possibly heavy and thundery in places. The east of the region should see the best of the sunshine and the maximum temperature will be 20C.

Between Sunday and Tuesday the mixture of sunny spells and scattered showers will continue, again possibly heavy and thundery in places.

Helen Rossington, forecaster at MeteoGroup, said: “We’re definitely not on for a heat wave.

“On Saturday there will be showers in the north, and the south is also at risk of rain. There is risk of thunderstorms overnight into Sunday across Kent and Essex.

“Sunday is a bit of a messy one. There’s a band of rain starting from Cornwall up to Lincolnshire. Anywhere through the Midlands would have a miserable day with plenty of rain.

“The south east corner will have a fair amount of cloud around, while the north of England will see sunshine and showers. Temperatures will be average for this time of year, reaching around 23C in London and in the high teens in most places.

“Monday is looking a better day for most of England and Wales. It will be largely dry with sunny spells. There’ll be showers across Scotland and the north of England.”

Revellers attending Notting Hill carnival in London and Reading Festival have been warned to expect showers this weekend, while rain is also expected to hit Leeds Festival over the weekend.

A poll of more than 12,000 AA members found that 39 per cent are likely to be on the road either for a day trip or overnight stay, and the average trip will be around 90 miles.

This equates to the equivalent of more than 13 million drivers on leisure journeys this weekend, the AA said.

The RAC warned that there is normally a spike in engine problems and punctures over the August bank holiday period.

RAC spokesman Pete Williams said: “Punctures are also a common reason for call-outs over the August bank holiday weekend as a number of cars no longer come with a spare.

“To ensure nothing puts the brakes on your getaway, check your tyre pressures and tread before you set off.”

The problem with payments from HSBC is thought to have affected payments made from HSBC accounts using the national Bacs payments system but not those from other banks.

But it does mean that customers of those other banks have not had money paid to them that they would have expected to receive.

The scale of the transactions and number of customers involved is not yet known. HSBC has 16.1 million customers in the UK.

Alan Charlesworth, managing director of insurance and legal recruiter IPS Group, took to Twitter to complain: “None of my staff have been paid. HSBC when will this be sorted?”

Another Twitter user wrote: “HSBC. None of my staff have been paid. Cannot get through to them on the phone. Absolute shambles of a bank! Extremely poor performance.

“I trust you are going to reimburse my employees that will incur late payment fees due to your Bacs payments failure.”

Also on Twitter, one user wrote: “Bacs payment system down on payday and before Bank Holiday. Lovely.”

Lydia Smith tweeted: “HSBC UK where’s my money? I didn’t get paid my wages today and I have bills to pay.”

HSBC said in a statement: “We are aware that some customers have not received expected credits today. We apologise for any inconvenience caused and are working hard to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.”

Bacs processes transactions worth up to around £50 billion every day and is seen as critical to the functioning of the UK financial system.

It said: “Bacs is aware of an isolated issue affecting one of its member organisations. The Bacs system is operating as normal and we are currently working with our partners to help resolve this as quickly as possible.”

The Bank of England said: “We are in contact with HSBC regarding their recent IT issue. We will be working closely with HSBC as it resolves the problem.”

An FCA spokeswoman said: “The FCA is in contact with HSBC regarding the issue.

“We will be working closely with the firm as it resolves the problem and to ensure there are steps in place to help consumers who are affected.”