UK weather latest: Britain set for another heatwave as bank holiday nears

Warm front could bring temperatures as high as 26C after flood warnings earlier in week

Britain is set for a blistering bank holiday as wintry winds and flooding are replaced by temperatures that will send the mercury zooming up the scale.

The blast of sunny weather will be all the more welcome after torrential rain and high winds battered parts of the country on Monday.

One man died after being washed into a harbour in Ramsgate, Kent, along with two other people as conditions the RNLI described as "atrocious" hit the south east.

Fallen trees blocked roads in Kent, East Anglia and parts of London, while rising flood water left some drivers needing to be rescued from their vehicles by emergency services.

Some areas saw more than a month’s worth of rainfall within 24 hours, with the largest amount, 57mm, being recorded in Lenham, Kent.

Yellow weather warnings were also put in place across parts of England, with gusts of 54mph seen in Langdon Bay, Kent, and 48mph in Donna Nook, Lincolnshire.

Temperatures hovered between 2C and 4C overnight on Tuesday, but the frigid weather looks set to transform in time to drench the UK in bank holiday sunshine by the weekend.

Grahame Madge, from the Met Office, said weekend temperatures are likely to rise above May averages, but it was difficult to predict exactly how hot it would get.

"We are looking to see if temperatures will be perhaps around 21 or 22C, or if they will get up to 25 or 26C," he said.

"Those are the two possible outcomes, there is a possibility warm air will be drawn in from continental Europe and if that wins out we will see much warmer conditions.

"Both scenarios look as if they will produce a relatively nice, clear and warm weekend, but we will have more confidence in how hot it will get later in the week."

A warm front brought in from the Azores last month saw the UK’s hottest day in April for almost 70 years.

The mercury topped 27.9C in Wilsey, Surrey, on April 19, beating the previous record of 27.8C from 2001, while the London Marathon later that week was the hottest on record.

The heatwave meant Britain was warmer than a host of usually temperate locations, including Athens, Ibiza and Kingston, Jamaica.

Additional reporting by PA