Scarcely a few weeks have passed since talk of hot and humid temperatures interrupted by heavy rain and flash thunderstorms.

But Britain’s summer of highs and lows seems to have limped to an inevitably dull, lackluster conclusion.

And anyone longing for an Indian summer will be disappointed by predictions of another cool and cloudy couple of days – although buoyed by the prospect of warmer, drier conditions as next week progresses.

“Some people’s expectations have been lowered by not remembering all the good days of the summer,” said Adam Dury, meteorologist with Norwich based forecaster, Weatherquest.

“It has been quite an extreme season, with some really warm days and heavy localised rainfall of up to 75mm in places – but we’ve not seen anything really excessive,” added Mr Dury.

A recent spell of overcast and showery weather is expected to make way for clearer skies and warmer temperatures next week. However, hopes of an unseasonably warm late summer will be optimistic, according to the experts.

Mr Dury said: “We are seeing a lot of cloud around, with highs of 17 or 18C – but next week will be largely clear. Temperatures will struggle early on but there is potential to reach the low 20s for Thursday and Friday in the south east.”

Although it may seem a subdued start to September, temperatures have been above average, with slightly more rainfall than is typical for the time of year.

Recent weeks have brought unsettled periods of weather due to high pressure languishing over Scandinavia and not being picked up by jet streams heading for Britain.

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