The forecast for the upcoming bank holiday is "uncertain" according to the Met Office.
The bank holiday is expected to be fine for southern areas, with occasional showers, and possibly wetter in the north west. Temperatures could climb to 30C or into the mid-20s depending on how the high pressure builds, the Met Office said.
Spokesman Grahame Madge said: "We've definitely switched from the hot and dry regime to something that has rain in the forecast. There's some heavy rain for the next 24 to 36 hours, providing some relief to gardeners more than helping to top up long term resources."
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While the forecast rain for this week will mean this month will "catch up a bit" with rainfall totals, Mr Madge said: "It's certainly going to be a dry August for the whole of the UK."
And he said some areas had gone without any significant rainfall from the middle of June until last week. He warned: "We've had below average rainfall for such a long time, it's going to take a period of above average rain to make it up."
Met Office forecaster Alex Deakin added "there’s more uncertainty than usual in the weather", and advised that anyone with plans stay up to date with the weather on a day-by-day basis.
Whether that period of above average rainfall is looming remains to be seen, with the Met Office set to bring out its seasonal forecast for the likely conditions over the next few months next week. It is possible for the weather to turn around: the severely dry summer of 1976 was followed by rain that meant that rainfall levels had caught up with the average by the end of autumn.
But scientists warn that climate change is making weather extremes more likely, increasing heatwaves, droughts and heavy rain events that can lead to flash floods.
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