Summer's coming at last...but not until 2013

More heavy rain is on the way today, but next year there’s a chance we’ll get blistering hot weather

The weather is, if nothing else, very British at present. Which means more rain is on the way.

Having rained for much of the week, the low pressure system that brought with it widespread threats of flooding has not yet done with us.

Changes in sea temperatures off the west coast of South America, however, offer a hint that next year's summer could be rather more summery than has been the case so far in 2012.

Scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the US believe there is a 50 per cent chance that the El Nino system will kick in during the second half of the year.

El Nino years tend to be hotter around the globe than at other times which means there is a chance next summer will be a belter in the UK.

Unfortunately, it is more likely simply to bring “more uncertainty” to the UK’s weather.

In the meantime, more heavy rain, thunder and blustery conditions can be expected tomorrow before easing up on Sunday and perhaps making way for a dryish start to next week.

But after a few days of respite, a new front of unsettled conditions is expected to move in from the end of the week, bringing with it yet more cloud and rain, perhaps for the rest of the month.

Wales, the Midlands, northern England and some south coast regions are likely to be the worst affected tomorrow, though the Met Office does not anticipate rainfall as heavy as was experienced earlier this week, nor to be anything like as torrential as the rain that forced the suspension of the France v Ukraine Euro 2012 match last night in Ukraine.

The referee ordered the players off the pitch and supporters ran for cover from the cloudburst.

“Prepare for localised disruption to travel and flooding of low lying land, roads and perhaps some properties,” the Environment Agency said in a statement issued late yesterday afternoon.

One flood warning and 19 flood alerts remained in place tonight but the biggest risk was of localised flooding because of already saturated ground rather than rivers bursting their banks.

Charlie Powell, a Met Office forecaster, said the low pressure system behind the recent spate of wet weather is on its way out.

“The low pressure system is going to drift north east into Scandinavia and fizzle out.