Indian summer temperatures are predicted to continue for the rest of this week, as Britons enjoy the last of the unseasonally warm weather before winter.

The peak will be a full 10C above the October average - at 23C on Wednesday, after weeks of an autumn heatwave. Experts say that the warm weather will continue every day, going into a sunny weekend.

But forecasters have warned the weather is likely to change dramatically later this month, with Icelandic winds due to hit the British Isles. From early next week, the Met Office expects a general coolness, and it may be cold enough to see snow flurries over the Scottish Mountains.

Scientists believe they have identified an 11-year cycle of activity that has allowed them to predict an extremely cold winter. A study published in Nature Geoscience magazine suggests that changes in high altitude winds have weakened the jet stream, causing cold air to be drawn to Europe from Siberia bringing in Arctic winds and possibly snow this year.