UK Weather: Brits set to brace themselves up for sunny skies within days after deluge of thunderstorms and up to 90mm of rain hit the country

Even by the standards of a typical British summer, the last few weeks have been particularly dismal.

But sunny skies (of sorts) could finally return to the UK in the coming days, according to forecasters.

The Met Office is predicting drier conditions by the weekend with bright spells and - at long last - temperatures above average for this time of year. Nonetheless, even thinking about a trip to the seaside might be an overly optimistic move.

While much of the rest of the world has seen the warmest summer ever, it has been a rather different story here. Since 2000, only one June and early July - in 2012 - have been as cold in the UK as this year.

Temperatures reached highs of up to 23c in London yesterday, but there were heavy rainstorms and in the across the north west and north-east.

Met Office forecaster Annie Shuttleworth said today (Thurs) will be ‘disappointingly cool’ in many areas - with rain expected in Wales, the Midlands and northern areas of England.

But she said finer weather could emerge in the north-west during evening ‘because we do have a ridge of high pressure building in from the north and west to end the week’, adding: ‘That means there will be more in the way of drier and brighter weather just for a few days.’

Meanwhile, BBC weather forecaster Matt Taylor ‘temperatures will lift a little this weekend’, although he warned that there was also the prospect of ‘some rain around at times, particularly on the eastern coasts’.

It comes after parts of England, especially in East Anglia, the Midlands and the south-east, have already seen around a month’s worth of rain.

So far this month, the wettest spot compared to its expected monthly average was Northolt in west London, with 66mm of rain in the first seven days of the month - 139 per cent of the total that would normally be expected for the whole of July.

Some  90mm of rainfall was expected to fall in the worst affected areas from 10pm on Tuesday until 11.59pm on Wednesday.

Motorists are likely to experience delays to their journeys because of flooded roads and spray.

While this summer has so far proven to be the chilliest in more than decade, it wouldn’t have been anything out of the ordinary in times past.

Analysis by Met Office expert Aidan McGivern reveals that four early summers in the 1980s were as cold or coldest than this, as were five during the 1970s.

The Average temp for so far this summer (1 June to 8 July) was 12.85C, compared to 12.8C during the same period in 2012.

Meanwhile, a French mayor exasperated by summer downpours has issued a bylaw ordering the sun to come out.

Daniel Marriere, the mayor of a small village in Normandy called Coulonces, also called on the clergy to start ‘top-priority communication with heaven’ to help end an unusual bout of wet weather engulfing his village.

The weather authority Meteo France said last week it had rained 20 per cent more in June than the norm between 1991 and 2020, with more than double typical rainfall in some regions.

‘I’ve never known weather like this’ in July, Mr Marriere said yesterday[WED].

‘Yesterday morning, it was pouring down, the sky was grey and you could hardly see what you were doing. You needed lights on inside of the house,’ he said.

The elected leader of 227 residents on Tuesday took matters into his own hands.

‘It is hereby ordered that for... the months of August, September and why not October, rain should stop and be replaced by bright sun and a light breeze,’ he wrote in a municipal bylaw.

‘Parish rectors across northern France are to contribute through top-priority communication with heaven, and will therefore be made responsible for the implementation of this rule,’ he added.

Many residents had since reached out to thank him, Mr Marriere said.