BRITAIN is set to bask in a mini-heatwave after getting lashed by rain from the tail end of Storm Edouard.

Temperatures of up to 26C will return after strong winds and showers have hammered the country as the remains of the tropical storm move across the Atlantic.

Rain showers are expected to continue today as the last of the cyclone dissipates over the ocean before a much brighter weekend.

Britain will be able to get back to enjoying the summer season and making most of the ongoing easing of coronavirus lockdown measures.

Temperatures could soar to up to 26C on Monday – and potentially get even warmer as the week goes on.

Forecasters however warned tropical storm activity in the Atlantic continues to make conditions very changeable next week.

Storm Edouard was the fifth tropical storm in the Atlantic Ocean this hurricane season.

The Met Office told The Sun Online it is expected there will be "wall to wall sunshine" for much of Britain on Sunday.

Met Office forecaster Becky Mitchell said things will be dry with sunny spells on Saturday with highs of 22C before the temperature then climbs.

She said: "Moving onto Sunday its wall-to-wall sunshine across the bulk of England and Wales, so blue skies and dry.

"Not a bad end to the week."

Ms Mitchell saidhighs of 25C are expected for Sunday, before making way for potentially even warmer temperatures on Monday which could climb to 26C.

However, she added the hot and dry weather across the southern part of the country may ease later in the week due to uncertainty from tropical cyclones in the Atlantic.

Meanwhile, Met Office meteorologist Craig Snell also said Sunday will be the warmest day of the weekend.

He said: "On Sunday temperatures will be around 24C to 25C, and it'll be warm especially towards the South East.

"Saturday's expected highs are between 22C and 24C.

"On Monday we may see temperatures of 25C to 26C in the far South East. It will warm up gradually as the week goes on, it's not going to quickly shoot up.

"Generally the dry and sunny weather will persist over that period for most of England and Wales."

The Met Office's long-range forecast states: "Temperatures are likely to be either around or on the warmer side of average, with the warmest conditions likely in the southeast."

BBC meteorologist Tomascz Schafernaker said conditions were "looking pretty good" for this weekend with "lots of warm sunshine on the way".

With sunshine and high temperatures on Monday, Brits will likely be hitting beaches and parks once again making the most of eased lockdown restrictions.

It comes after extraordinary scenes at the end of June when soaring temperatures of over 33C saw hundreds of thousands of people swarm to the seaside despite the pandemic.

Downing Street had to issue a fresh lockdown warning – urging people obey the rules and continue to adhere to social distancing guidelines.

Boris Johnson's spokesman warned further lockdown measures could be in placed if the rules are again ignored by Brits.

He said: "The PM and the government scientific and medical advisers have stressed the great importance of the public continuing to adhere to social distancing advice.

“If the rules don’t continue to be followed and the virus starts to spread exponentially again, we will look at having to reverse some of the easements we’ve put in place.”

Chief medical officer Chris Whitty added: “Covid-19 has gone down due to the efforts of everyone but is still in circulation.

“If we don’t follow the social-distancing guidance, then cases will rise again.”

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