Forget your holiday at home: June set to be a washout

Get out your brolly and cancel your stay-cation. Hopes for a return to the the scorching weather we had in spring have been quashed by the Met Office.

June gloom is set to to stay, with sunshine being scarce, according to weather experts.

According to Met Office spokesman Barry Gromett, instead of a sizzling start to summer, the rest of the month is likely to be a 'mixed bag' of showers and warm weather across the country.

Parts of Britain saw a fortnight's rain fall in just one afternoon this weekend - and temperatures are eight degrees below the June average of a warm 20c.

Bournemouth scooped the gong for the wettest place in England over the weekend, with 57mm hitting the coastal town.

Meanwhile, Vyrnwy in Wales was deluged with a 32.4mm between 10am and 10pm - almost a third of the UK June average of 96mm.

And it temperatures have recenlty plunged to a miserable 12C in parts of south east England, with Wych Cross in East Sussex a shivering 12.5c during one day - way below the June average.

And the rain looks set to continue for much of this week, with 'quite heavy' showers forecast for southern England on Thursday, Ladies' Day at Royal Ascot.

Mr Gromett told the Daily Mail: 'I think it's definitely a sunshine and showers set-up this week. We shouldn't expect too much in the way of sunshine.

Tomorrow offers the best chance of dry weather with long sunny spells in central and eastern England.'

The volatile weather and constant downpours has been blamed on the Atlantic weather system.

Mr Gromett explained: 'Low pressure areas from the Atlantic have swept across the UK, bringing widespread rain to much of it.

'There's not going to be blisteringly hot weather but it's not going to be dramatically cold either, it'll be somewhere between the two.'

The unpredictable weather, which is thought to have highs of 20c in London and between 16c and 19c for the rest of England in June, is a far cry from the scorching heat seen less than ten days ago, when temperatures soared to 27c in the south of England over the weekend.

Let's hope we fry in July!

In the meantime, why not escape the drizzle and book one of these fab villas in sunny Spain? Click on the image below to see our top choices for summer 2011 - whatever your budget.

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