When it rains, it POURS! Curfew-hit Britons wake to a drenching

Britons woke up to a drenching this morning as showers brought an end to summer – with temperatures plunging 10C and poor weather set to last much of the week.

The mercury hit 26C in East Anglia during sunny conditions yesterday, but by later this week maximum temperature will drop to a miserly 16C amid gales and thunder in parts of the country.

Today will see rain across much of southern England, with brighter spots in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Squally showers will linger over much of the Britain by the end of the week, before the skies clear for a brighter – though still chilly – weekend.

Today will see rain across much of southern England, with brighter spots in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Met Office forecaster Marco Petagna told MailOnline: ‘Things are turning more unsettled and cloudy now.

‘We’re seeing showery rain across the south-east at the moment, which will clear but by lunchtime another band of rain will sweep in.

‘They’ll be plenty of bright weather in Scotland and Northern Ireland and it will be low to mid-teens in the north and west.

‘Conditions will turn quite cold overnight, with air temperatures dropping down to freezing in parts of Scotland.’

Things are unlikely to improve until Saturday, the forecaster explained.

‘Tomorrow is looking like a very unsettled day with squally showers and thunder in places,’ he said.

‘The highest temperatures will be around 13C to 15C, which is about 10 degrees down from what there’s been recently.

‘Then on Friday the showery weather will push towards the east but temperatures will continue struggling in the mid-teens.

‘The weekend looks much more promising with bright weather around but it will stay chilly.’ 

A Met Office graphic showing chilly temperatures across the country this morning