UK weather: when will it be sunny again?

The 'great British summer' is often enough to make anyone despair, but this year has been a particularly cruel example of the nation's capricious weather. After an all-too-brief spell of miniature heatwaves at the beginning of July, the British climate seems to have sunk back into its usual gloom.

Just a few weeks ago, newspapers boasted cheerful headlines about temperatures 'hotter than Spain', but now they tell a very different tale. "Whatever happened to our glorious summer?" the Daily Mail asks. "As families across Britain prepare to start their summer holidays, gale-force winds and torrential rain come blowing in."

The Guardian is no more encouraging, warning of an "'intense' day of unseasonably bad weather" with winds of up to 50mph. Most pessimistic of all is the Daily Telegraph, which has set up a live blog to chronicle every gust and downpour battering the nation in real-time.

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So is this really it for the summer? Can we expect to see the sun again? The good news is that the summer didn't begin and end with the early-July heatwave. The Met Office forecast suggests that things are going to brighten up at the end of next week. After a few days of blustery showers, the south of England should dry up, followed gradually by the rest of the country.

However, while August looks to be mostly dry, it may take a little longer for the sun to catch up. "Temperatures cooler than average at first, with some chilly nights in the north," warns the Met Office. It nonetheless predicts "increasing amounts of fine, dry weather across most parts of the UK by the second week of August".

Warming up, then, but is there any chance of more of those Spain-beating scorchers we experienced earlier in the summer? "There is a small chance that some very warm conditions may briefly return to the south," says the forecast, while warning that any such heatwave may bring a repeat of the intense thunderstorms seen earlier this month.