The UK will be drenched by heavy rain this week – but the deluge could give way to temperatures of 30C (86F).
A yellow rain warning has been issued for today, with a risk of flooding and disruption to infrastructure and transport.
The Met Office says it is in force until 9pm tonight – with “many parts of England and Wales” set to be affected.
Up to 80mm could fall within three to six hours in a few places, with northwest Wales and North West England forecast to be hardest hit.
Temperatures are expected to surge once the rain subsides, and southern England could reach 30C by the weekend – higher than the 26C (78.8F) predicted in Los Angeles.
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Met Office forecaster Greg Dewhurst said: “The good news is that low pressure moves out of the way as we go into Tuesday, so it should be a drier day.
“A better chance of seeing some sunny spells particularly across eastern parts of the UK.”
He explained that another area of low pressure to the west of the UK and the Atlantic will slowly start moving towards us – paving the way for warmer weather.
“What that allows to happen is for the winds to turn southerly, and we start to import some higher temperatures from the near continent,” Mr Dewhurst added.
Top temperatures are likely to depend on cloud and shower distribution.
It comes after the UK experienced its sixth-wettest July on record, with flooding and strong gusts from Storm Antoni bringing a miserable start to August.
