Semicontinuous niobium and silver films were made in an ultra-high-vacuum (UHV) chamber and in-situ d.c. resistance measurements were performed. After interrupting the deposition, we investigated the immediate ageing phenomenon (relaxation) of the sample resistance on a time scale of about 10 min. Resistance increase and decrease were observed for niobium and silver samples, respectively. The intensity of the relaxation is sensitive to substrate temperature and him thickness. We suggest that edge diffusion and coalescence of islands due to thermomigration of the metal atoms are responsible for the resistance relaxation.