Diabetes UK says this equates to 6.5% of the population and when the data is extended to include Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, that figure will reach 4.2 million.
This represents a rise of 46% going on current figures or one in every 12 people.
Diabetes UK says the blame can be laid on unhealthy diets and a lack of exercise which will lead to a "diabetes explosion" unless things change.
Currently around 2.3 million people in the UK are diagnosed with diabetes but experts say in excess of 500,000 also have the condition but are unaware of it.
Diabetes puts sufferers at risk of serious complications, including heart disease, blindness, kidney disease and limb amputation and it is the increasing numbers of overweight and obese people, who will be at risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
When they are initially diagnosed eight out of every ten people with type 2 diabetes are overweight; type 1 diabetes is far less common and is usually diagnosed in childhood.
Diabetes UK says corresponding costs will be seen in the NHS and escalate healthcare expenditure and health services will be put under enormous pressure.
Experts suggest that as much as 10,000 per minute is presently used treating diabetes and its complications and Diabetes UK says the new figures are shocking and confirm that diabetes is one of the main health challenges facing the UK today.
The charity says awareness and prevention are crucial in averting the potential health crisis and people must be encouraged to reduce their risk of developing the condition by eating healthily, maintaining a healthy weight and leading an active lifestyle.
A range of government sponsored initiatives have been launched to deal with the issue including a "healthy town" project which attracts substantial funding and includes encouraging the creation of more cycle lanes, walk to work and school schemes, and healthy food.
Amounts of up to 5m will be available if a commitment to a more healthy environment has already been shown.
These initiatives follow predictions by the Department of Health in 2006 which forecast more than 12 million adults and a million children in England would be obese by 2010 if no action was taken.
Men with a vitamin D deficiency (having 15 nanograms per milliliter of blood or less) had an increased risk for heart attack compared with those with a sufficient amount (having 30 nanograms per milliliter of blood or more) of vitamin D. "After additional adjustment for family history of myocardial infarction, body mass index, alcohol consumption, physical activity, history of diabetes mellitus and hypertension, ethnicity, region, marine omega 3 intake, low- and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels and triglyceride levels, this relationship remained significant," the authors write. Men with intermediate levels of vitamin D had a higher risk of heart attack than those with sufficient vitamin D levels.
"Vitamin D deficiency has been related to an increasing number of conditions and to total mortality. These results further support an important role for vitamin D in myocardial infarction risk," the authors conclude. "Thus, the present findings add further support that the current dietary requirements of vitamin D need to be increased to have an effect on circulating 25(OH)D [vitamin D] levels substantially large enough for potential health benefits."
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