Rain and high winds usher in a wash-out September

September is to be another wet and windy month, forecasters warned today.

They say it will get off to a depressing start tonight with heavy rain and wind predicted across the capital.

"August was really awful, and very disappointing for the whole country," said Michael Dukes of forecasters Meteo-Group. "Sadly, September is not looking that much better. Tonight is really going to set the tone for the first week, with heavy rain and high winds expected overnight. There's a high risk of standing water on the roads, and commuters should take care in the morning. It's going to be very unpleasant."

The warning comes as the capital was already suffering today with 16mm of rain last night.

Roads in north London were flooded and cars forced to drive through deep water in some areas.

Next weekend is also predicted to be a washout, with a risk of heavy storms, Mr Dukes said, although it is set to remain relatively warm.

"The weekend has the potential to be very bad, with heavy winds and rain - it's not looking good at all."

The summer weather has been largely due to the position of the jet stream this year - the area of fast moving air in the atmosphere which brings in weather systems from the Atlantic.

This is in a more southerly position than usual, putting Britain in line for weather fronts which usually come in over northern Scotland and Iceland.

"The good news is next week is looking relatively good, with the depression causing the current problems finally moving away," said Mr Dukes.

"However, our overall forecast for September remains unsettled, although temperatures are going to be relatively warm." The weekend saw major problems around Britain as the weather veered from high temperatures on Saturday, reaching 27C in the capital, to torrential rain yesterday, when 16mm fell across London.

The highly changeable weather brought an end to the wettest August since 1992.

It was a gloomy month with only 96 hours of sunshine, compared with the average of about 200, making it the most overcast August since 1912. Met office spokesman Nigel Bolton said: 'We are fairly sure that some places had their dullest August on record. We have had a phenomenal amount of cloud."