HIGH Wycombe was one of the coldest places in the UK on Bank Holiday Monday, as temperatures dropped to a chilly five degrees centigrade.

At midday the town was colder than Oslo, Helsinki and Moscow, which was basking in 32C of sunshine.

And temperatures only managed to reach a maximum of 6.9C on the day - ten degrees below the average for this time of year.

As well as leaving Bank Holiday weekenders with chattering teeth, the winter-like weather also left them soaked when Wycombe had one of the highest levels of rainfall in the country in just 24 hours.

A deluge of just under two inches flooded the town on Sunday and the rain didn't stop when a further 38.4mm fell on Monday. This added up to more than a month's worth of average May rain falling in just 48 hours, which brought widespread flooding to the area.

The A4155 between Marlow and Bourne End was closed on the Bank Holiday and drivers who ventured down there were met with huge puddles that covered the entire road.

Sarah Davies, Met Office weather advisor, said: "It looks like it was the wettest May day on record. The Sunday was the wettest basically across the whole of central and South East England. Previously the maximum daily total up to now has only been an inch. It was a lot wetter than normal."

She added May time weather is normally unsettled but people should be enjoying temperatures of at least 16 to 17C.

Sarah said: "We didn't think it would be that cold.

"It was predicted to be a pretty awful Bank Holiday weekend. We knew it was going to be cold, I think we were going for more like ten degrees rather than six or seven."

Terry Mayes, weather data collector for the British Weather Services, added: "I have heard reports that there was a bit of sleet and snow in the Chilterns, just about cold enough for that to occur in the higher areas."

Rainfall throughout May in High Wycombe often fluctuates. In 2005 only 40mm fell but in 2000 101mm came down.