Britain’s warm spell is over as temperatures are set to fall to average for autumn – and wind and rain sweep the nation.

As the UK moves into autumn, heavy rainfall is expected throughout the week, with western Scotland, Wales and north-west England expected to be the wettest areas.

Winds are expected to reach highs of 69mph on Wednesday in the east of England and the whole of the UK will experience winds averaging 35mph until the weekend.

There will be a general mix of sunshine and showers throughout the week, but temperatures will be lower than last week when the south of England reached the high 20s.

Temperatures are returning to average for this time of year, with 18C the highest temperature expected across the UK throughout the week.

Some areas will experience up to 25mm of rain a day, most likely in eastern Scotland and eastern England, and more widely people can expect between 10-15mm of rainfall.

On Wednesday, north-west England and south-west Scotland could see up to 30mm of rain in just 12 hours.

Met Office spokesman Stephen Dixon said: “Tuesday in particular there’s a band of heavy rain moving into the south west of the UK, the South East will hold on to the drier conditions longer but this band of rain moves eastward across the UK.”

He added: “There is a low pressure system developing to the north west of the UK which at the moment is on track to bring some showers into Northern Ireland early on Thursday, and the west coast of Scotland.

“In addition to that, continuing strong winds for most of the week, especially in coastal areas and heading into the weekend.

“That theme continues as that low pressure system shifts around in the north of the UK, bringing showery conditions for most through the weekend.”