It might be October – but it ain’t half hot.

A plume of warm air from Spain is responsible for bringing the balmy temperatures which has seen the UK basking in 18 degrees today – some five degrees above average for this time of year.

Salendine Nook weather forecaster Paul Stevens said the humid, muggy conditions are down to the air coming up from Spain.

“That’s why the temperature has gone up. We are just at the end of summer and the oceans are at their warmest, and with the air coming up from the south, it’s transporting all the warm temperatures with it.”

Huddersfield weatherman Paul Stevens
Huddersfield weatherman Paul Stevens

But it is also unsettled – meaning there could be some very heavy downpours.

The warm conditions will only last until Thursday, when it will become colder, drier and calmer.

And we can all breathe a big sigh of relief, as the hurricane that brought chaos to parts of America is going to pass us by.

There had been warnings that Hurricane Joaquin, which battered the Bahamas and led to severe floods in the US, could make landfall with the UK. But it has now been downgraded, and is expected to bypass Britain, though the Met Office has issued a severe weather warning for heavy rain.

Boats damaged by Hurricane Joaquin are strewn across the bush in Long Island, Bahamas, Monday, Oct. 5, 2015

Mr Stevens said that an area of high pressure which is building in Scandinavia is far more important for us than the remnants of Hurricane Joaquin.

“Today and tomorrow we will have some heavy showers but it will be warm and humid.

“But by the time we get to Thursday we will have a ridge of high pressure building. The weather will become dry and settled, but it will be chilly.

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“The energy from the old hurricane will approach the south west of Ireland but it won’t cross the UK.

“It will either go up north and be blocked by high pressure, or go south towards Spain and bring more unsettled conditions to the Med. All we will notice through the weekend is an increase in the south easterly wind.”

Homes are seen under the floodwaters caused by Hurricane Joaquin in the Southern area of Long Island, Bahamas, Monday, Oct. 5, 2015

He said the easterly wind will make things feel much colder than of late.

“It will be very noticeable. There might also be some early morning mist and fog, but it will be much more settled than of late.”

The Met Office said that lthough many areas will miss the heaviest rainfall today, some parts of the warning area are likely to see heavy, sometimes thundery and slow-moving showers, these leading to temporary surface water flooding in a few areas, together with minor disruption to travel.

A slack area of low pressure will move slowly across southern Britain today, bringing unstable air and the potential for thundery showers. The light winds mean that the downpours will be slow-moving as well as intense in some regions, with the possibility of 15 mm or more falling in less than an hour.