Goodbye sunshine

  

WHERE has our summer gone?

That's the question millions of sunseekers were asking across Britain today as we prepare to enter July with the promise of more rain, more high winds, and more cloudy weather.

The soundtrack of the summer is more likely to be Here Comes The Rain Again rather than Good Day Sunshine as the heavens continue open over the top of us!

This month Ipswich has seen nearly double the average amount of rainfall as a rare “European monsoon” descends on the Suffolk skyline.

And this month has followed the wettest May on record over much of Suffolk!

Only April was better than expected - there was virtually no rain for the entire month, prompting fears of a drought!

But don't worry folks . . . no one is talking about a drought in Britain any more!

And there is little chance of a repeat of last summers soaring temperatures that had millions of Britons wilting in the heat.

Star weatherman Ken Blowers said: “Two Junes in every ten years will see moist air travelling in from the Atlantic, resulting in torrential rain of a tropical intensity like the sort we have seen for the past few weeks.

“This May was one of the wettest for 100 years, with five inches of rainfall, which is three times more than what we should have had.”

Over the last few days Britain has been subjected to the “worst rain for 50 years” according to some national newspapers, prompting national flood alerts and travel disruption.

Mr Blowers predicts that although we will see a slow improvement towards the end of the week, a very cool westerly wind should ensure we keep our coats on in true British style.

But experts at the government's Meteorological Office warn that the whole summer could be something of a washout . . . for the next month at least.

The four-weekly forecast predicts that while this week should improve, next week will see the return of unsettled weather and then more rain will fall during the middle of July.

So the British weather has maintained is miserable reputation with Wimbledon's first day delayed by rain and Glastonbury turning into the usual mud fest.

However it's not all bad news. The above-average rainfall over the past nine months has meant water resources are very high.

Sara Rowland, spokeswoman for Anglian Water, said: “Our reservoirs are 90 per cent full and the ground water has recovered after the last few years of drought so there's no danger of a hose pipe ban this summer.”



One large black cloud can hold up to 300,000 tons of rain.

The south east is usually the driest region in the UK and has a lower rainfall average than Jerusalem and Beirut at between 450mm and 600mm per year.

The wet weather has reportedly wiped out the nesting season for some of Britain's rarest wading birds, up to 1,000 pairs of waders and ground-nesting birds have lost their eggs or chicks after rain hit the Ouse Washes in East Anglia.

Bookies have slashed odds on rain disturbing or delaying every centre court game each day at this years Wimbledon from 33-1 to 20-1.