The UK is set to see temperatures as low as 4C this week as the first full week of October gets underway. It comes after an uncharacteristically hot and dry summer, with large parts of the country still in drought conditions.
Hottest summer on record
Several records were broken over the summer months, with back-to-back heatwaves leading to the provisionally hottest summer in the UK and England and Wales saw their driest July on record, the Met Office says.
Now autumn has gotten underway, temperatures have cooled down and are expected to drop even further this week, reaching lows of 4C in parts of the UK.
High pressure to bring settled weather
In its latest deep-dive forecast, the Met Office said that an area of low pressure will make way for high pressure, leading to "settled weather" in parts of the country.
"Another deep area of low pressure will move towards Iceland at the beginning of next week," the Met Office says. "Its associated weather fronts are expected to bring heavy rain and gusty winds to Scotland and Northern Ireland on Monday, while southern areas remain largely dry.
"As the front moves southwards, high pressure should build temporarily, settling the weather for a couple of days. Tuesday is expected to bring westerly winds, with rain most likely across western Scotland and mainly dry conditions in the south and southeast."
The Met Office continued: "By Wednesday, a north-westerly airflow will bring showers into northern and western Scotland, while most other areas remain dry. Temperatures will be around average."
"Higher pressure may become increasingly influential through the middle of next week, keeping much of the UK dry. By the end of the 10-day period, however, it could retreat southwards, allowing more changeable, blustery and rainy weather to return to northern and north-western areas."
Temperatures drop to 4C on Thursday
Met Office weather maps show temperatures dropping as low as 4C on Thursday morning (October 8).
Settle and Brough, both located in North Yorkshire, are set to reach lows of 4C on Thursday, with Macclesfield, Cheshire, dropping to 5C, and the rest of Greater Manchester will reach 6C or 7C.
Parts of Scotland, including Biggar, Moffat, and Cumnock will drop to 3C at around 7am on Thursday morning.
Changeable period ahead
Met Office's long-range weather forecast - which covers the period between October 9 and 18 - warns of a "changeable period" of weather.
"It will be a changeable period as weather systems move in from the Atlantic, bringing spells of rain or showers to most areas," the Met Office says.
It continues: "There will be heavy at times, especially in the northwest, with some strong winds. There will still be some drier and brighter interludes between systems, especially in parts of the south and east.
"Temperatures will likely be near to normal at first, perhaps becoming warmer later."
