Autumn 'one of driest on record'

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This autumn is on course to be one of the driest on record in the UK, weather forecasters have said.

Provisional rainfall for the period between 1 September and 25 November is 206.3mm (8.1in) - far below the average for this period of 335.4mm (13.2in).

Experts predict this autumn will be one of the 10 driest since records began in 1914, despite some rain being forecast in the remaining few days of the month.

In contrast, this summer was the wettest on record in the UK.

'Interesting year'

BBC weather forecaster John Hammond said: "At the moment it is the driest since 1972 but we still have some days of the month left and we are going to get some rain over the next few days.

"Whatever happens, this means it will be one of the driest on record."

It's been a very topsy-turvy weather pattern this year John HammondBBC weather forecaster

There were just 206.0mm (8.1in) of rain in the autumn of 1972, but the record low for the season was 192.9mm (7.6in) in 1922.

The provisional average temperature for the UK this autumn is 10.1C (50.2F), which is about 1C above normal.

This summer was the UK's wettest since records began, with 362.1mm (14.3in) of rain which beat the previous high of 358.4mm (14.1in) in 1956.

Mr Hammond said: "It has been an interesting year.

"It began to dry out in August, and since September we have had three dry months. It's been a very topsy-turvy weather pattern this year."