BRITS will cool off today as rainy weather and lower temperatures are forecast for the UK, following the weekend's heatwave.

The Met Office has predicted that cloud and outbreaks of rain in the northwest will move southeast.

4 UK weather map for today, Tuesday and Wednesday

4 UK weather forecast: The UK is set to be hit by rain and milder temperatures today

There will also be sunny spells and scattered showers across northern and central parts during the day.

Temperatures will be “rather cool” in the North, according to the Met Office, with highs of 16C expected in Newcastle.

In the evening there will be heavy showers in the North as well as rain in north-western Scotland and Northern Ireland.

This may come as a welcome relief for some after temperatures soared to 34C on Saturday making it the hottest day of the year.

The mercury hit 34C in Northolt, Middlesex, as Britain basked in a heatwave.

Brits made the most of the sun by firing up BBQs while others headed to the beach and gathered in beer gardens.

Luke Miall, Met Office forecaster, told The Sun Online this week will start with two different weather forecasts.

He said: "Looking like quite a quiet week of weather for much of the UK.

"The week will start as a North-South split. The North will see breezy conditions and showers, but nothing too heavy.

"Anywhere north of Manchester and even Northern Ireland will see some showers, but it will mostly be in North West Scotland.

"The rest of the South and Wales is looking fine with plenty of spells of sunshine on Monday with temperatures in the low 20s."

4 A torrential rainstorm catches out pedestrians in Manchester city centre last week Credit: Cavendish Press

4 Hundreds flock to the beach in Brighton Credit: London News Pictures

Scotland was blasted by more than 20,000 lightning strikes as dramatic thunderstorms raced across the country at the weekend.

The incredible total was recorded by the German lightning-tracking website blitzortung.org between midday and 10pm on Saturday.

On the ground, this produced a number of fires and power outages as electricity sub stations received direct hits.

The thunderstorms which crossed Scotland at the weekend have also left the country cooler at the start of July than it was at the end of June.

Today will see temperatures fully 13C below last Friday’s high of 30C.

The heat which this generated helped trigger thousands of lightning strikes.

These severed power supplies and resulted in a few small fires on the ground.

SSE said yesterday it had successful re-connected around 200 customers who lost power in Aberdeenshire.

Two houses in Collieston, Aberdeenshire, received direct hits from lightning bolts, which resulted in some damage to property.

In Gatehouse of Fleet, in Dumfries and Galloway, firefighters were called out after lightning struck an overhead line supplying an electricity sub station.

Ian Anderson of Scottish Fire and Rescue Tweeted:”SFRS have attended multiple incidents in Newton Stewart and Gatehouse area due to lightning strikes.”

Powerful electrical activity in the atmosphere had been forecast by the Met Office, who issued a number of warnings for lightning strikes through Saturday.

These progressively moved north east across the country on Saturday, ending with dramatic photographs emerging on social media of fork lightning in Aberdeen on Saturday night.

Alex Burkill of the Met Office said: ”An active cold front crossed Scotland on Saturday, resulting in a rash of thunderstorm activity.

“In the south east, this led to heavy thunderstorms, heavy rain and lightning.

“In the south west, there was not so much rain but plenty of lightning.

“The beginning of July does not look terrible but it will feel pretty cool, compared to the end of June.

MOST READ IN NEWS Latest COP SLAIN Cop shot dead at police station as he took suspect's temperature in covid checks HAPPY MEAL McDonald’s worker pays customer’s bill after he calls mum to ask for her order Exclusive HAPPY MEAL McDonald’s worker who paid for lad’s meal has secretly bought food for MONTHS COP OFF Policewoman & married PC fired over on-duty fling after squad cars tracked with GPS EUGE NEWS Princess Eugenie 'so excited' to be expecting baby as Andrew & Fergie share joy COP SLAIN Suspect who shot cop dead at station during covid check 'known to terror police'

“Scotland saw some lovely weather last week but temperatures are nowhere near what they were.

“The first day of July on Monday will see a damp start, quite windy conditions which will make things feel rather cool.

“On Monday night, the temperature could get down as low as 4C (39F).”

We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368. You can WhatsApp us on 07810 791 502. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.