Tens of thousands of homes have been left without water for more than 24 hours as warmer air from Madeira brings an "extraordinary" shift in temperatures, causing water pipes to burst up and down the UK.
The Met Office said areas were widely seeing temperatures of around 14C yesterday, with a high of 15.8C recorded in Rhyl, Wales.
Dr Stephen Burt, a meteorology expert at the University of Reading, where temperatures have changed from minus 5C last week to 12C on Monday, called it an "extraordinary rise of almost 20 degrees in a few days".
