Autumn weather is on the way this week, with cold air from the Arctic moving in and sending temperatures plummeting.
After a warm and sunny end to last week, heavy rain swept in over the weekend, with rain warnings in place across much of southern Britain on Sunday.
It was a gloomy start to this week for some of the country, with many places in the east and north-west waking up to cloud and patchy rain.
While other parts of the country enjoyed a dry and bright Monday morning, as the week goes on, temperatures are predicted to drop further, with some chilly nights on the horizon.
A band of low pressure is forecast to move across the country on Tuesday, bringing heavy rain, followed by blustery, scattered showers.
Temperatures will struggle to rise above the mid-teens by Wednesday, when a cold northerly wind and blustery showers are set to sweep in, the Met Office said.
There may also be a chance of frost in some areas. Night-time temperatures are likely to fall to as low as 7C on Wednesday.
The Met Office has advised people to keep up to date with weather forecasts as warnings will be kept under review. Last week, parts of Wales were hit by flash floods, and parts of south-east England got more than half of September’s expected rainfall in just 24 hours.
“As we go through into Tuesday and Wednesday and beyond, we will start to see even cooler air begin to move in from the Arctic,” the Met Office forecaster Craig Snell said on Sunday.
“Our first autumn chill of the season is coming our way into the middle part of the week. It will bring temperatures around the mid-teens by day and by night, some of us will be falling into the low- and mid-single figures.”
On Monday morning, he added: “As we move into Wednesday and Thursday the cold air really takes hold across the whole of the UK, bringing in a rash of showers across many areas.”
However, it is not all bad news, with the picture predicted to improve again by the weekend with sunny and bright spells possible – although temperatures are still likely to be cooler than average for the time of year.
By Friday, Snell said, “some milder air from the Atlantic begins to move in, with high pressure also moving in, settling things down as we end the week”.
