Wet weather and busy roads – it must be a bank holiday weekend

After weeks of golden weather the forecast is for bitterly cold northerly winds, sharp showers and a bracing touch of frost: Britain can only be facing a spring bank holiday weekend. Already there are bemused expressions on the faces of tourists in the capital, as London Underground announces the part or total closure of nine tube lines over the weekend , including a total shutdown of the Jubilee line. There will also be a national outbreak of the dreaded "rail bus replacement services" as 21 out of 23 major rail lines post their intention to carry out some weekend engineering works - including the disruption of all train journeys between London and Leeds on east coast services, and Virgin cutting all services between London and Rugby on Sunday. The inevitable consequence is a warning from AA Roadwatch of congestion on most major road routes, particularly in the southern half of the country. The good news is the threatened strike of their breakdown crews has been called off . The AA forecasts there will be more people on the roads because so many stayed home at Easter because the weather was horrible, and will be reluctant to take overseas flights after the volcanic ash fiasco, combined with a heavy sporting lineup over the weekend. Edmund King, president of the AA, said: "This bank holiday is often referred to as a 'grass-cutting weekend' as people tend to stay at home. They tend to travel further afield over the later bank holidays when the weather is a bit warmer. However, we expect many people will take a chance with the weather and travel, so there will inevitably be some traffic building up on popular routes." The Met Office is predicting showers "becoming more widespread and heavier", much cooler weather in Scotland, and cold, wet and windy by Sunday in southern and eastern England. "Typical bank holiday weather," a spokeswoman said. For anyone who can get there, myriad bank holiday special events are planned at visitor attractions and historic properties. At Hampton Court Palace a towering wine fountain has been set up, as in the jolly days of Henry VIII, spurting red wine and chilled white from separate lion head taps. Recent archaeological excavation before the renewal of the courtyard surface suggested that Cardinal Wolsey, original owner of the palace before he was unwise enough to show off his splendid residence to his friend the king, had a wine fountain there, which was then greatly enlarged by Henry. It is partly modelled on one shown in a painting Henry commissioned of his meeting with the French king at the Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520, which featured not one but two fountains, probably running with wine and beer. In the good old days such fountains, sometimes set up at street corners to celebrate coronations or royal births, were free to anyone who could crawl to them with a mug or cupped hands. But in these debased times Historic Royal Palaces will be charging £3.50 a glass. In Swansea, the BBC is inviting members of the public to try their news reading skills in a mock set, at an event over the weekend in Castle Square . The corporation is also laying on members of the Electoral Commission Wales to discuss election issues with any member of the public who can still bear to speak of it, before the television debates between the Welsh leaders on Sunday and Monday nights. English Heritage reopens the imposing 17th century stable block at Audley End in Essex , regarded as the best survival of its kind in the country, complete with real horses and grooms. The National Trust is inviting visitors to the Dolaucothi Gold Mines in Carmarthenshire – one of the reasons, some believe, that the Romans bothered to invade in the first place - to pan for gold and the chance of winning a piece of Welsh gold jewellery, and the Historic Houses Association reports that blue morpho and owl butterflies have obligingly hatched at the butterfly house at Berkeley castle just in time for the opening weekend. Revellers should also remember that this weekend marks the start of national Compost Awareness Week .