THE Met Office has issued a “danger to life” warning for later this week with flooding and winds expected to reach 80mph.

But the dreary weather will only appear after Britain has basked in the hottest October day for seven years.

Temperatures could see a high of 25C on Wednesday and Thursday, according to the Met Office.

Anything over 23.6C would be Britain’s hottest October day since 2011, Met Office records show.

Tropical Storm Leslie, in the mid-Atlantic, is helping catapult tropical air from the 30C Canary Islands to Britain.

But that warm spell will then give way to gales coming in on Friday in the North of the country.

The worst affected parts are expected to be Northern Ireland and western Scotland between 5am and 9pm.

The Met Office also warned there is a “slight chance” of some damage to buildings.

Only parts of the south east will keep the balmy weather with most of the country suffering the strong winds and rain.

Met Office forecaster Steven Keates said: "A nice spell of weather is starting, with warm tropical maritime air coming from the Canary Islands and the Azores.

“25C can’t be ruled out... Wednesday and Thursday look like the peak, but it stays on the warm side for the weekend and next week.

"The South should stay comfortably above average until at least October 18 with the high teens daily and odd days at 20C.”

The Weather Outlook forecaster Brian Gaze said: "Don’t put the BBQ away.

"It’s summer’s last hurrah, with Indian Summer-style weather through mid-October shown on computer models, with 25C highs possible in midweek."

It came after Britain soaked under heavy rain over the weekend, when yellow weather warnings issued.

The Met Office issued warnings of "persistent and heavy rain" over parts of western Scotland, with floods set to cause travel chaos until Tuesday.

A Met Office forecast model shows a 60 to 80 per cent chance of warmer-than-average weather before the end of December across the country.

But bookies claimed snow could hit the country this month, despite temperatures of around 20C heading our way this week.

London has been given a 10/1 chance by Betway to see a scatter of the white stuff, whereas Glasgow is the UK's most likely place to see snow at 10/3 and Edinburgh at 4/1.