Britain will be hit with weeks of rain from today as heatwave ends suddenly 

Britain is facing a deluge of wet weather starting today as this week’s mini-heatwave – which saw many Britons flout the countrywide lockdown – comes to an abrupt end. 

Forecaster say today will see cloudy skies and a risk of showers ‘breaking out almost anywhere’ and a likely high temperature of 73F (23C), dropping to 68F (20C) tomorrow and between 53-59F (12-15C) starting Tuesday. 

More typical April weather will resume next week, with wet weather and much lower temperatures presenting a ‘marked change’ from the sunshine Britons have enjoyed in recent days, Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan told MailOnline.

This weekend – the country’s fifth since lockdown started – saw hot, dry conditions encouraging housebound Britons to flout restrictions and enjoy the sunshine. 

But the temptation to leave home will be considerably lower for many in the days to come, as bands of rain brought by the Atlantic lead to ‘cooler’ and more ‘unsettled’ weather.

A Met Office spokesperson said: ‘So far April has been a largely dry month. However, today we’ll have showers across parts of Scotland, then north and central England, Wales and possibly Northern Ireland.’

Meteorologist Marco Petagna said that ‘it might be welcome rain for some, after it’s been so dry’, but there would still be ‘some sunshine, even when things are unsettled’.

Forecaster say today will see cloudy skies and a risk of showers ‘breaking out almost anywhere’, and a likely high temperature of 73F (23C), dropping to 68F (20C) tomorrow and between 53-59F (12-15C) starting Tuesday

The public was told to stay at home despite the weekend’s high temperatures, with Transport Secretary Grant Shapps urging people to abide by lockdown rules despite apparent improvements in the coronavirus crisis.

During Friday’s Downing Street press conference, Mr Shapps said: ‘The country has done incredibly well in adhering to social distancing and there is a danger as we go into yet another warm sunny weekend that people think that perhaps these graphs are showing that the peak is over.

‘It isn’t over, we’re riding perhaps, we hope, a downward trend but it is by no means, no means established yet.’ 

Despite the warnings, many Britons chose to venture out and enjoy the heat – while others took the opportunity to host barbecues in the gardens.

Thursday was slated to see temperatures of 75F (24C) heat – making Britain hotter than Corfu – and sales of barbecue food soared as parts of the country sought to enjoy the sunshine safely.     

A Met Office spokesperson said: ‘So far April has been a largely dry month. However, today we’ll have showers across parts of Scotland, then north and central England, Wales and possibly Northern Ireland’

Britain is facing weeks of wet weather starting today as this week’s mini-heatwave – which saw many Britons flout the countrywide lockdown – comes to an abrupt end (pictured: The beach in Brighton and Hove, April 25)

Sales of British Beef Quarter Pounders increased 169% this month with own-label British Beef Quarter Pounders rising by 139%, Iceland had said, and Waitrose increased production of its range of barbecue meats by 20%.   

Questions have repeatedly been raised about when the country will move out of lockdown, as well as raising concerns about the method when the time comes.

Mr Shapps said: ‘When people ask me when will the measures, the social distancing, the stay at home measures, be altered, my answer in some ways is that some of this lies in your own hands.

‘The more we adhere to it and are strict about the social distancing that is required, the faster that decision will be able to be made.’

The UK coronavirus death toll has now passed 20,000, and restrictions continue to be implemented. 

Everyone entering the country will now face a mandatory two-week quarantine under plans being drawn up by the government – which has now ordered the production of up to 50 million new immunity tests.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is said to be preparing to return to Downing Street tomorrow, and is now ‘raring to go’ following his own personal battle with the killer virus.