Sunshine is a taster of what’s to follow

Jul 30 2007 by Jessica Shaughnessy, Liverpool Daily Post

MERSEYSIDE enjoyed a respite from the summer’s heavy rain with a rare day of sun that forecasters say is a taster of improved weather expected for the month ahead.

Prospects were looking brighter for the entire nation after a feared ten-hour deluge of torrential rain failed to materialise in the Midlands and Thames valley over the weekend.

A Met Office spokesman last night said Britain would begin to see a “more typical” summer over the next few days and into August – including the north west.

Just seven to 10mm of rain was recorded in the Midlands and the Met Office says there is now unlikely to be any heavy rain for the next week.

Gloucestershire Police said the rain was “much less severe” than expected and had no reports of major incidents or flash floods.

A spokesman for the Met Office told the Daily Post last night: “There will be a relief from the miserable weather.

“There will still be patches across the country that face more rain, but these are generally in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

“It will be a lot sunnier in the Liverpool area over the next few days. People will see the sort of temperatures you might expect during summer, going up to 22/23 degrees.

“It looks a bit uncertain in the middle of the week, when it might get a bit cloudier again and there could be some showers, but it will pick up again.”

But the predictions will not lessen the tragedy of recent days for many – as yesterday it emerged the flooding in Gloucestershire has claimed a third life with the discovery of a teenager’s body in a submerged park.

Rescue teams searching for 19-year-old Mitchell Taylor, who vanished in Tewkesbury, a week ago, found a man’s body washed up near trees in flooded fields near the town’s historic abbey.

The body was found just a few hundred metres away from Tewkesbury Rugby Club, where Bram Lane, 64, and his son Chris, 27, were found dead on Thursday morning.

The pair had worked through the night to clear flood water from the cellar of the clubhouse, but were overcome with fumes from a petrol powered pump. Homeowners have been warned they face stinging rises in water bills to cover the costs of increasing Britain’s flood protection.

Concerns are already being raised about who will end up paying to improve defences to counter future deluges.

But with price limits for water already set up to 2010 by Ofwat, any rises could only come into force from 2011 onwards. This could leave households counting the cost of this year’s weather four years on.

Communities and Local Government Secretary Hazel Blears played down fears over rocketing water bills.

She said: “This is not something that is going to happen overnight. Some of these stories can be very irresponsible.

“People think their bills are going to double next year. There is a system in place and the water companies can only review their charges every five years. The next review isn’t until 2009,” she told BBC News 24 Sunday.

But Ms Blears cautioned: “The rain that fell was absolutely unprecedented, but if it is going to be that our weather is going to be more volatile, then we all have to look ahead, including the water companies.”

jessicashaughnessy