Drivers urged to rub potato on car before Thursday

It's been a hot and dry few weeks but heavy rain and even possible flooding could lash the UK this week as the fifth heatwave of the summer gives way to some much-needed downpours.

But with rain finally returning, drivers are being urged to prepare their cars for significant downpours this week.

UK weather maps and the Met Office are predicting deluges on different days depending on where you live but with much of the UK seeing some significant rainfall by Thursday.

With the sunshine and heatwave conditions giving way to heavy rain, it's very easy to get caught out by the sudden intense rainfall.

But one YouTuber, Simple and Fast, has shared a trick that 'might save your life' if you're driving in heavy rain.

The bizarre hack involves rubbing a cut-in-half potato across your car's windows.

First, take a potato and cut the potato in half. With the inside of the potato's cross section now exposed, rub the starchy innards across the windscreen almost like you're trying to scrub it clean using the potato.

When that's done, the windscreen will become aquaphobic, resisting water.

Using a piece of masking tape to demo the trick, she divided the windscreen in two and rubbed the potato only on the left hand side, before chucking a bowl of water over the car.

She then explained: "As you can see, the right side has drops on it while the left side has none.

"This is ideal for days where it rains hard and you know that the windows fog up."

The Met Office forecast for Tuesday says: "A wet start across many northern and central areas of the country, with rain moving erratically southwards during the day. Turning brighter but fresher from the north."

And for Wednesday to Friday it adds: "Wednesday will be dry in the south, while elsewhere there will be a mix of sunshine and showers. Showers becoming widespread and heavy from Thursday, with an risk of thunder."