UK weather forecasters detail temperature change of -6C as westerly wind bites

The mercury will drop by at least 6C today from yesterday as Brits finally get a respite from the sweltering heat.

Rain and thunderstorms are also expected in some regions, including the Northwest of England, this afternoon as a band of low pressure creeps in from the west. This will also lead to gusts of up to 50mph along the coasts of south Wales and Somerset and Devon today.

The mercury yesterday reached 28C in Hull, while it hit 26C near Bedford, two of the warmest places in the UK on Monday. Just 20C is anticipated in Bedford today - a 6C drop in 24 hours - and only 18C is expected in Hull, a huge 10C plunge on Monday's peak.

Forecasters at Ventusky, which uses data from the the US' National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the East of England is likely to be the warmest region today with 22C expected across Norfolk and Suffolk, though this is far cooler than the weekend's furnace. A sweltering 33C was recorded in Cardiff on Saturday, according to the Met Office.

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More than 25mm of rain is expected to lash across Cumbria and parts of Lancashire this morning. It will then move southeast but fall as showers across all of Yorkshire, and the Midlands throughout the afternoon.

But forecasters believe the weather will turn thundery in various places, notably across Greater Manchester, throughout this evening. Overnight, East Yorkshire and Humberside will experience the heaviest of the storms, before the miserable weather moves further east over the North Sea.

It will be quite the contrast - and relief - to recent scorchers. In relation to today's picture, the Met Office website reads: "A band of rain will move east through the day, followed by heavy scattered showers in the northwest. Windy for many, particularly across the south and west. Feeling fresh."

The sequence begins an unsettled ending to July. The Met Office's long-range forecast, concerning the period up to Monday July 28, says it will be "wet and, in places, windy". It adds: "Unsettled, wet and in places windy weather is likely this coming weekend, followed by something a bit more mixed. Any more settled spells could persist for a few days at a time and are likely to be accompanied by plenty of sunshine, but interspersed with these will be cloudier, more unsettled intervals which will bring some showers or longer spells of persistent rainfall."

The heatwave has led to concerns around heat rash and sunburn. However, when one mum shared online an alternative treatment for sunburn, social media users were sceptical the approach would work over NHS' official suggestions.