England's outdoor hospitality reopens to rain, sleet and snow

Hospitality businesses in England are permitted to reopen outdoor spaces from today, but outbreaks of rain, sleet and snow are expected this morning in the south.

The Met Office is predicting a cloudy start, clearing through the morning to make way for sunny intervals and scattered showers. Elsewhere, sunny periods and isolated wintry showers are forecast.

James Chiavarini, owner of London's Il Portico restaurant, tweeted: "The thermometer reads 1 degree, it's snowing and we've got 100 guests arriving to eat outside. Makes you proud to be British."

Click here for guidance on what hospitality business owners need to know for reopening.

However, many operators will not be opening today with just two in five licensed premises estimated to have space to open outdoors. Outdoor hospitality in Scotland and Wales are hoped to reopen on 26 April, while businesses in Northern Ireland are still yet to receive an indicative reopening date.

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