Schools have been forced to cancel their sports days and fetes today as Britain continues to get soaked in a summer deluge.
Some disappointed parents say ‘there’s no point arranging it anymore’ as parts of the country prepare to be hit with a month’s worth of rain tonight.
Deanery CofE Primary in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, called off its sports day as the downpours caused the multi-use games area to become waterlogged and ‘too dangerous’ to compete on.
In Cambridge people sheltered under umbrellas and braved the downpours to go on the city’s famous punting tours along the River Cam.
While in Wales the unseasonable weather triggered a rare phenomenon as four giant waterspouts formed off the coast in Gwynedd.
The ‘terrible’ weather has also been blamed by the All England Club’s chief executive Sally Bolton for a drop in the number of tennis fans heading to Wimbledon this year.
Singer Hozier meanwhile has cancelled his gig tonight at the Chepstow Summer Sessions just hours before he was due to perform as heavy rain caused the arena and car parks to flood.
Planes are struggling to get off the ground too as torrential rain and storms across the Atlantic cancelled flights last night forcing fed-up passengers to sleep on uncomfortable plastic chairs at Heathrow.
LONDON — A trio of visitors to Westminster take shelter under their umbrellas during a heavy downpour in the capital
DORSET — People wear waterproof jackets and shelter beneath an umbrella as they walk along Lyme Regis’ seafront today
LONDON — The Oxford Street shopping district was particularly badly hit during the outbreak of rain
CAMBRIDGE — People braved the downpours as the hid beneath brollies while going on the city’s famous punting tour
WALES — The unseasonable weather caused four giant waterspouts to form off the coast in Gwynedd
DORSET — A near empty Lyme Regis beach pictured today compared to the bustling scenes at the same time last year when people were bathing in scorching heat
The downpours have caused schools up and down the country to cancel their sports days with one parent saying they were ‘no point arranging anymore because of the British weather’
The Wimbledon courts were sheltered from being drenched in a month’s worth of rain in its first week that saw more people decide to stay away and instead watch the tournament from the comfort of their homes.
A total of 282,955 fans passed through the gates at SW19 in the first week – almost 4 per cent fewer than last year’s total of 293,681 during the same period.
Bolton bemoaned the weather for the drop-off in numbers as she said: ‘The weather has been so terrible that perseverance in the queue has been even greater this year than it ordinarily is.
‘We’re never about maximising our attendances, we’re all about protecting the queue and making sure that we have still got that accessibility, accepting that as a result of that was some variability on the numbers that we will end up achieving.’
Low pressure fronts are sweeping across the country from the south, pushing the rain that has plagued southern and central parts of England and Wales in recent days to the north.
A yellow weather warning for rain has been issued for swathes of northern Scotland, running from 10pm today until the end of Wednesday.
Up to 90mm of rain is expected to fall in that time; the average UK rainfall for July is 82.48mm.
The alert covers the Highlands as far west as Ullapool, Wick to the north, Peterhead to the east and Arbroath to the south.
HOLYHEAD — Prince William holds an umbrella as he arrives at the RAF Valley today
2024: Tennis fans shelter from the rain on day seven of the 2024 Wimbledon Championships
CAMBRIDGE — A woman shelters from the rain under an umbrella as she crosses Garret Hostel Bridge over the River Cam
2024: Rain stops play on the seventh day of the Wimbledon Championships
A yellow alert for rain is in place for a large part of northern and north-eastern Scotland (above)
A huge weather front is pushing its way north today (pictured: 5pm today) – with showers across parts of central and eastern England, and heavy rain hitting northern Scotland
WEYMOUTH: Grey skies abound in Dorset, where heavy rain will hit hard later on Tuesday
WEYMOUTH: The rain began early in this seaside town – but there’s more to come in the afternoon
WINDSOR: Flooding isn’t troubling this cyclist in Berkshire – but there’s more waterlogging to come later on
HENLEY-ON-THAMES: Rain on Sunday couldn’t deter these rowing fans – but there’s more rain on the way for parts of southern England
WIMBLEDON: Spectators sheltering from the weather on Sunday – and there’s a good chance of rain in SW19 today
HENLEY-ON-THAMES: Torrential rain on Sunday (above) is likely to rear its head again today, with flood alerts in Oxfordshire
There are also flood alerts across parts of Devon and southern and central England (above)
For those further south there is better news: clear spots will follow across central England and Wales – cloudy rather than sunny.
Flood alerts are in place across parts of Devon, which is set to be hit heaviest by the downpours this morning, as well as along the Coln, Upper Loddon, Lower Colne, Frays and Thame rivers in the south, and tributaries in Leicester.
Temperatures will peak at a very unseasonal 21C in central England, as little as 18C in the North, and just 16C in Scotland.
Alex Burkill, meteorologist with the Met Office, said today would be a ‘rather soggy’ Tuesday.
‘There’s going to be rain across many parts because of a weather system that has pushed in overnight…it’s a wet start across the southern half of the UK,’ he said.
‘Some bright and sunny spells will develop but those temperatures will be a little bit below average elsewhere. It’s going to be quite cool for the time of year.
‘It is going to be especially wet across northern parts of Scotland here, totals really building up…we could see in excess of 90mm.’
Britain’s summer has been unexpectedly wet to date – with cooler temperatures than normal and wet weather far more frequent than expected for this time of year thanks to the jet stream lingering on Britain’s shores.
Hopes of a return to more seasonally appropriate weather have been dashed for the week – with some sunny spells to come on Wednesday but temperatures barely hitting 20C from now until Sunday.
Stormy weather in recent days has caused chaos for holidaymakers – with travellers hoping to fly from London’s Heathrow Airport forced to sleep in the terminal overnight due to catastrophic conditions over the Atlantic.
Two British Airways planes were struck by lighting at the weekend – forcing the airline to withdraw both jets for safety checks.
And the recent unsummery conditions are thought to have hit attendance figures at Wimbledon.
Attendance on a particularly soggy Friday last week was the lowest for day five of the Grand Slam tournament in 25 years.
HEATHROW: Stranded passengers hunker down for the night in the terminal after dozens of flights were cancelled on Sunday
WIMBLEDON: Fans make the best of the day despite the weather – as figures show attendance has dropped on last year amidst dismal weather
PORTSMOUTH: A bright sunrise on Monday morning – but there is rain to come later today
TYNEMOUTH: A rainbow appears over the northern town on Sunday. Heavy rain is forecast for the area later today as a weather front pushes north
DUNSDEN: Misty conditions on Oxfordshire on Monday. The area will see some rainfall today as the bad weather pushes north
High street retailers are thought to have suffered too – with no rush to grab the usual clothing associated with this time of year because there has been no good weather in which to wear it.
June’s poor weather saw consumer spending slump as shoppers gave up on their gardens and DIY and bought new televisions to watch the Euros instead.
Total retail sales across the UK were down by 0.2% on last June according to the BRC (British Retail Consortium)-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor.
Separate figures from Barclays show consumer card spending fell by 0.6% year on year in June – the first decline since February 2021 – as the colder weather early in the month hampered spending at clothing stores, pubs and garden centres.
Karen Johnson, head of retail at Barclays, said: ‘The dreariness didn’t dampen spending across the board, with takeaways, digital content and entertainment all benefiting from people sheltering at home.
‘Hopefully we’ll see sustained interest in the Euros – regardless of England’s fate – and sunnier weather driving people to their local in July.’
