Britons could wake up to a touch of frost

Britons could wake up to a touch of frost after a soggy start to the week in which heavy rain and strong winds battered parts of the UK.

One man died after being washed into a harbour in Ramsgate, Kent, along with two others, as what the RNLI described as "atrocious" weather conditions hit the south east.

Fallen trees blocked roads in Kent, East Anglia and parts of London, and rising flood water also saw some have to be plucked from their vehicles by emergency services.

In the 24 hours from 9pm on Sunday to 9pm on Monday, Lenham in Kent saw the largest amount of rainfall with 57.8 mm recorded - more than the monthly 49mm average, the Met Office said.

With yellow rain and wind weather warnings in place for much of Monday across the south east, gusts of 54mph were recorded in Langdon Bay, Kent and 48mph in Donna Nook, Lincolnshire.

Meteorologist Sarah Kent said the eastwards moving band of heavy rain and strong winds look set to have cleared the Norwich coast by 4am.

"It means that by the time we get to dawn (on Tuesday) it is actually going to be dry across the whole nation," she said.

"(But) it will be quite chilly - temperatures in the south, even in Kew Gardens, London, they could see 3C which is low enough possibly for a touch of grass frost."

The mercury will hover between 2C and 4C for much of the UK overnight, with Aberdeen look set to see temperatures as low as -1C, Ms Kent added.

Despite the UK waking up to a dry and chilly start, Ms Kent said rain looks poised to usher in across Northern Ireland bringing "wet and breezy" by lunchtime.

The band of bad weather will then start spreading into the western parts of England and Wales.

"For most people Tuesday is going to be a dry day with sunny spells - a very welcome change for those down in the south east," she added, revealing temperatures are set to rise into the low and mid teens across the UK.

Despite the wet start to the week, with the bank holiday approaching, Ms Kent said across the south east of the UK it "promises at the moment to be dry" with "increasing amounts of sunshine".

"We could see temperatures reaching possibly the mid twenties... we could see 24C or 25C in London," she added.