Grand National 2022: Aintree racecourse weather forecast for Saturday’s iconic horse race - Met Office latest

The much-loved Grand National is here. Just a few weeks on from the Cheltenham festival, horse racing fans can rejoice as one of the biggest sporting events in the UK returns.

Forty horses will take to the Aintree racecourse, and run the four-mile long course, with millions hoping their one will prevail as winner.

With an estimated viewing audience of 500 million across 140 countries, it’s the race everyone will be watching.

This year’s race will also be the first with a crowd since Tiger Roll romped to victory in 2019.

With weather arguably one of the most important factors in this type of sport, what will the weather be like for the race, and when is it?

When is the Grand National?

The Aintree Grand National takes place on the third, and final day of the event.

The racing card started on Thursday, April 7, with the main event taking place on Saturday, April 9.

The main day of the event, Saturday, sees races starting from as early as 1:45pm, with the main event taking place at 5:15pm.

What will the weather be like for the day?

• 07:00 - 08:59

The sun is set to rise at 06:27, and the day gets off to a good start. Expect nothing but sunshine, not even a cloud in the sky from 7am - 9am. Despite the temperature being around 4C, with the Met Office saying it will feel 1C. Wind speeds remain low too, at around 19mph.

• 09:00 - 10:59

A rise in temperature, but a dip in terms of weather quality. Some clouds will interrupt the sunny weather, but sunny intervals will still happen in this time frame. Just a 10% chance of rain too, so the weather should remain dry.

• 11:00 - 12:59

Again, a slight rise in temperature to 7C, but a 40% chance of rain means we may see some rain fall in this time frame. Wind speeds will also rise again to around 24mph, but this is seen as usual and should have no real impact on anyone.

• 13:00 - 14:59

There’s a 30% chance of rain at 1pm, but this drops dramatically to just 10% at 2pm, so this time frame should see very little, or no rainfall. The temperature remains good at around 8C, with wind speeds dropping ever so slightly to around 22mph.

• 15:00 - 16:59

Sunny intervals begin to show again, with 3pm showing absolutely no chance of rain. At 4pm, the chance of rain rises sharply to 30%, with wind speeds again around 21mph.

• 17:00 - 18:59

The weather recovers just in time for the main event. At 5 and 6pm, expect nothing but pure sunshine, with no clouds or rain, with the chance of rain being <5%. The temperature remains the same at 8C, and the wind speed drops to 18mph and 5pm and 16mph at 6pm.

• The rest of the day

Before the sun sets at 8:01pm, expect constant sunshine until then, with very little chance of rain. Wind speeds will also drop to 11mph at around 10pm, with the temperature remaining above freezing at 6C.

Coverage of the main event from Aintree can be viewed on ITV, and it begins at 2pm, and ends at 6:15pm.

On Sky, ITV is on channel 103, and on Virgin Media Channel, it is 113.