The country is set to be split by the weather in a north-south divide - as the south sizzles and parts of the north remain on flood alert.

Following heavy rain in North Yorkshire, water has been sent gushing out onto nearby roads from White Scar Caves in Ingleton in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

Video footage from the scene shows cars driving slowly through deep flood water coming from the natural attraction - which is expected to remain closed until 3pm.

But summer looks set to make a reappearance for the south east corner of the country from Tuesday - while flooding will remain a risk in the north west.

Across the South East and East Anglia, temperatures could reach the low 30s on Wednesday and Thursday, said Met Office spokesman Grahame Madge.

"There is a front that will be straddling the UK and temperatures to the south east of that front will be much warmer," he said.

"The next few days in the south east and the home counties are going to be very warm - but it is a different picture a bit further north - that is where the front will have an impact."

Temperatures in northern cities will only reach into the low 20s - with up to 21C expected in Edinburgh on Thursday and 20C in Belfast on Wednesday.

"It is a boundary between two weather systems - we have got cooler air to the north and west, and warmer air to the south and east," added Mr Madge.

"There is still potential for sunshine in a lot of other places - the map for Wednesday shows the cloud across the central belt of the UK, from south Wales to the Humber.

"North of that there are very sunny areas, it is a bright picture, but temperature wise it is going to be the south east corner that is going to see the higher values over the next few days."

The Environment Agency currently has 14 flood warnings, including five for the River Wyre in Lancashire, and 19 flood alerts in place across the north west for Monday.

Flood defence schemes are also being used in Garstang, Catterall and Wigan - protecting 500 properties - after heavy rain saw river levels rise in parts of Lancashire and Cumbria.

Met Office meteorologist Alex Burkill said following the unsettled weekend, the frontal system is currently "quite weak" but will move northwards on Monday night, gathering strength.

He said it will bring "significant rain" to some parts of northern England, southern Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The levels of rainfall expected could "locally see 20-25mm in a few hours" in places such as Lancashire and the Peak District said Mr Burkill.

"Generally we are looking around the 10mm mark," he added.