Sunny skies and warm weather will bring summery conditions to much of the UK on Wednesday, with temperatures forecast to reach 24C.

The Met Office said Wednesday would be the warmest day this week, with highs of 24C (75F) in London, 23C in Cardiff and Birmingham, 22C in Manchester and 20C in Newcastle and Glasgow. Parts of northern and western Scotland were expected to hang on to clouds and wind.

Wednesday's going to be a fine day for most with plenty of sunshine and temperatures way above average for the time of year ☀️ pic.twitter.com/LbEiovvBFd — Met Office (@metoffice) October 9, 2018

A Met Office spokesman said the next few days would be warmer than usual for this time of year. Though the average temperature in October in the UK was about 9.4C, he said it was not uncommon for temperatures to climb to the mid-twenties. The warmest October day on record in the UK was 29.9C in Kent in 2011.

The sunny spells would be short-lived, however. The Met Office predicted the arrival of unsettled weather on Thursday, which would give way to wet and windy conditions on Friday. Saturday was likely to be as warm as Wednesday for swaths of the south-east, the spokesman said.

The Met Office issued a yellow “be aware” warning for persistent and at times heavy rain across most of western Scotland on Tuesday. It said there was a small chance homes and businesses could be flooded and buildings damaged. Persistent rain could also disrupt transport services and fast-flowing or deep flood water could endanger lives.

Dry conditions were expected elsewhere, with patchy fog, mist and low cloud forming across England and Wales by dawn.

A separate yellow warning for wind was issued for Friday in western Scotland and another, for heavy rain, on Saturday.