IF YOU’RE hoping for summer weather to arrive, don’t hold you’re breath. 

This is the view of Dorset’s weather forecasters, who have predicted the unseasonably cold and wet July is here to stay for possibly the next 10 days. 

Bournemouth weather enthusiast Jim Smith, who runs the Twitter/X account @BournmthWeather, said July’s mean temperature so far is 16.2C. 

This, he added, is equal to the poor Julys of 2007 and 2012. A normal July should be at about 17.9C. And the rainfall so far has been 2.5 times higher than normal, at more than 30mm. 

Bournemouth-based UK Extreme Weather said the weather for the next five to 10 days look “pretty bleak”. 

He added: “But there are signs emerging that the weather could settle down and warm up towards the end of the month and into August.  

“I’m keeping a watching brief for now as it’s probably the slight favourable weather pattern at the moment with weight of 60 per cent in favour of things settling down." 

What’s more, the Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for heavy rain for Monday night, with many residents waking up to a drenched outdoors. 

The soggy start to summer follows the UK’s wettest spring since 1986 and the sixth wettest on record, with the damp weather being teamed with chilly conditions. 

Nationally, the Met Office recorded the average temperature for the first week of July as 12.9C – some 2.4C below the month’s long-term average. 

June also ended with an average temperature of below 13C, despite a mini-heatwave in parts of the country towards the end of the month. 

These cool conditions have largely been caused by the jet stream – the high velocity wind in the atmosphere which causes changes in pressure, according to the Met Office. 

Deputy chief meteorologist David Hayter said: “In recent weeks, the jet stream has been either directed towards the UK, or shifted further south, which has predominantly brought cooler air over the UK, with frequent incursions of some unseasonable winds and rain. 

“For warm weather in the UK in summer, you’d tend to see the jet stream shifted further north, which allows the possibility of warmer air to drift over the UK from the south, though this isn’t always the case. 

“Unfortunately for those who like the warmth, we have only had brief periods where this pattern has been present in summer so far.”