Indian summer: It was fun while it lasted...

The unseasonably warm weather will end abruptly for some this week as Hurricane Ophelia heads for our shores. Forecasters warned yesterday the tail end of the hurricane would lash parts of the country from Wednesday, putting a stop to the record-breaking October temperatures.

Most of the country basked in the glorious weather on Saturday as the mercury peaked at 30C in Yorkshire, beating the previous record of 29.4C set on 1 October, 1985 in Cambridgeshire.

And the mini-heatwave continued in England and south Wales yesterday with temperatures reaching 29.4C at RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk, about 3pm, a new record for 2 October.

But forecasters have said the remnants of Hurricane Ophelia, currently hitting north America, will affect Scotland, Northern Ireland and the North West of England from Wednesday.

Craig Snell, of the Met Office, said that temperatures would begin to drop tomorrow as a cold front sweeps in before severe gales hit the north of the country.

"The autumnal weather is set to return this week with temperatures tumbling daily," he said.

"Wednesday looks like one of the worst days with outbreaks of showers and cloud, and by Friday temperatures will drop to around 13C in the South and 11C in the North."