Richard Hammond, 50, and his wife, Mindy, won a battle with conservationists on revamping their country estate near Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, but were told the castle could house a rare breed of bats.

The former Top Gear presenter is adjusting to a fifth week of enforced lockdown as the country battles to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus COVID-19.

Tanya Rendall, 46, filmed the moment dry grass rained down on the houses in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, on Wednesday.

Experts are predicting that the July heatwave and Met Office forecasts for above-average temperatures in August might mean that the common blue butterfly has its 'best ever summer',

The UK will be battered by more than a month's worth of rain in just one day today with forecasters expecting a three-inch deluge combined with 40mph winds - but better weather is on the way.

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Figures from the Met Office show the three months from June to August were the UK's 12th hottest summer on record, including a new high for the country of 101.6F (38.7C).

For five years the Met office and Ireland's Met Eireann have run the Name Our Storms campaign. This year one of the storms even has a Love Island link and is set to be named Maura.

Temperatures have remained approximately one or two degrees warmer across the UK today as southerly winds bring a late warm spell dubbed the 'Indian summer heatwave'.

Heatwaves above 86F (30C) for more than two days currently happen once every four years in Britain, but Met Office forecasters say this will increase 16-fold to four a year by 2070.

The Met Office forecast a warm plume from the continent to bring sunny spells, with highs of 19C (66F) by Thursday. But Government weathermen said polar air is set to arrive from the weekend.

The Met Office say the chance of the UK experiencing an 'extreme summer' like the one in 2018 will increase year-on-year, as will the temperatures experienced.

The study by the University of Plymouth examined forecast data going back 150 years and focused on upland areas like Dartmoor. They predict there will be more rain in the summer in future.

November's dismal wet weather will finally change with torrential downpours making way for drier, colder conditions across Great Britain - with the big freeze expected to begin by the weekend.

Strong winds will hit the country as a deep area of low pressure crosses the UK from the west on Sunday and Monday, bringing gusts of up to 80mph around Irish coasts and 70mph to England.

But first the country will have to battle through horrendous flooding plunging much of the UK under water.

Ice patches are expected to form across northern Britain tonight. A light dusting of snow may also fall on north-west England, Exmoor, Dartmoor and the Welsh hills, forecasters have warned.

The cold is set to creep in from early next week and northern and eastern areas of the UK are likely to experience wintry showers and some snowfall.

Figures released today show that temperatures across the United Kingdom this month have been between 0.5C to 2C above average.

The new weather forecasting system will be the fastest in the world - increasing Met Office computing capacity six-fold when the device is turned on in August 2022.

Communities battered by torrential wind and rain are warned that a tiny amount of rainfall could cause further flooding as Britain is hammered by terrible weather for the third weekend in a row.

Large parts of Shropshire are already underwater, with many access roads closed, and things could get worse with the river due to peak tonight amid further heavy rain in the Welsh mountains.

Met Office forecasters are warning of up to four inches of snow from the Shetland Islands down to Nottingham and across to Northern Ireland this evening. Pictured: Derbyshire snow today.

Kevin Lorryman's home is just one of dozens in the East Yorkshire communities of Snaith and East Cowick which were inundated a week ago when the River Aire spilled out of its washlands.

136 flood alerts have been put in place - mostly in the South - while the north has large yellow rain warnings for today before some respite on Sunday.

Temperatures will rise as high as 15 or 16C in the south on Tuesday. It will feel markedly like spring although it will be colder in the north.

The UK faces much-needed warm and lovely sunny weather this weekend after a -6C chill tonight, as the country sinks into a gloom amid the raging coronavirus crisis (St Anne's Beach).

The Met Office is warning of high pressure systems from the Atlantic and northern Europe crossing towards the eastern parts of the UK from Friday afternoon.

Snow is expected to hit parts of the UK while temperatures plummet to -8C in mini 'Beast from the East' set to batter lockdown Britain until next week (pictured, snow settling in Co Durham).

Temperatures are expected to be warmer than Ibiza in Britain today, with highs of 77F (25C) forecast in the south compared to 64F (18C) in the Spanish holiday hotspot.

The country's worst-hit areas, most likely England's midlands and Wales, are facing up to 30mm of rain in the next 24 hours.

The Met Office forecast temperatures to hit up to 77F (25C) on Friday, with London possibly seeing 79F (26C) on Saturday, as a plume of hot air from the southern Mediterranean wafts across the UK.

London's parks were filled with groups of sunbathers and other revellers on Friday as the bank holiday sunshine saw the public flout lockdown rules once again. In Clapham (pictured) groups were seen gathering.

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Missing your gym class? Eaten your body weight in biscuits? Don't worry, A-list trainer and top UK fitness expert Matt Roberts

We're joking, of course. But our fearless columnist and her long-suffering assistant Nicola Bebb have a relationship that's outlived most marriages.

Yep, they really have been ripped at the seams right now. But what's the next best thing to going on holiday? Fantasising about what you'll wear when you finally can again!

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