Anyone hoping for the UK’s summer weather to become a bit more summery in the coming days or weeks is likely to be disappointed, experts have said.

In the latest sign that people may need to pack an umbrella rather than a parasol when leaving the house, several flood alerts have been issued across England.

The government-issued notices are mainly concentrated in the north of the country, with 14 in Merseyside, Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Yorkshire.

They include one flood warning, which carries an extra level of seriousness beyond an alert, concerning the River Wyre near Catterall, north of Preston.

Flooding is also possible in parts of Middlesbrough, Leicestershire and Berkshire.

A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said ‘minor surface water flooding impacts’ were possible in those areas, but added that the overall flood risk for England and Wales is ‘very low’ for the next five days.

The Met Office said a large band of rain would sit across the central swathe of the UK, particularly northern England and Wales, for much of today.

Several festivals and sporting events have already been affected by the grim weather.

The fourth Ashes Test at Old Trafford and the Open Championship at Hoylake are both being hampered by near-continuous heavy rain.

Meanwhile, the Bluedot Festival at Jodrell Bank in Cheshire has told Sunday day ticket holders that it is unable to accommodate them, as they announced wet conditions meant the programme could only go ahead ‘for people already here’.

Marco Petagna, a meteorologist at the Met Office, said: ‘Certainly localised flooding is quite possible. The rain warning we have out now until midnight certainly suggests the potential for standing water on the roads, so journey times could be impacted, and there could be some disruption for local bus and train services.’

The weather agency predicts we may be on course for the dullest July on record, with noticeably less sunshine than average for the month.

It comes straight after the UK’s hottest June ever – and while southern Europe is being battered by a number of brutal heatwaves.

Marco added more wet and windy weather was due to arrive from the west in the middle of next week, with the outlook ‘staying unsettled’ and thunderstorms and further flood risk possible.

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