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London got its second rainfall in as many days overnight, with more showers forecast for the coming days after a record-setting dry summer.
According to the Met Office rain tracker, a band of rain swept across the capital from around midnight, passing over the city by 5am.
It comes the night after the first period of real rainfall for almost two months the previous evening - and the upcoming forecast suggests that more could be on its way.
BBC weather predicts more light rain showers later on Wednesday, with further showers on Thursday and a three-day period of rain next week.
England saw the driest July on record, with no meaningful rain in London, putting unprecedented pressure on the capital’s cherished parks and beauty spots.
An aerial view of a parched golf course in Mitcham, south LondonGetty ImagesDuring the UK’s fifth heatwave of the summer, the hottest day of the year was recorded in Kew Gardens last Thursday when temperatures reached 38.1C.
According to Thames Water, the north of the capital saw zero rain with areas south of the river receiving just 1mm.
Across the Thames catchment area, just 0.8mm of rain was recorded - a mere 2% of the long-term average.
Despite the return of wet weather, one forecaster has said that the rain is “not going to solve the drought situation overnight”.
Met Office meteorologist Aidan McGivern said that showers would be “fewer and further between” in southern areas.
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He added that the rainfall would not be a “huge amount” and “highly hit and miss from place to place”, before conditions became drier again over the weekend.
Mr McGivern said: “I suspect many people across England and Wales will at least enjoy the feel of some rain falling out of the sky during the next few days, but it’s not going to solve the drought situation overnight because we’re not expecting huge amounts and it will be highly variable because a lot of it will come in the form of showers.”
Thames WaterPA WireThe “flash drought” has left millions in London under a hosepipe ban as reservoir levels dropped.
More than 27 million people across England have had hosepipe use restricted in their area after months of hot and dry weather.
In an update on Tuesday, Thames Water said London reservoir storage was at 74%, which is lower than the firm would expect for this time of year.
The utility has urged its customers to continue to reduce water usage, saying that household demand has fallen by 3% across London and more than 6% across the Thames Valley and home counties since a hosepipe ban was introduced on July 23.
According to the company, customers used about 100 million litres more water every day than normal in July, putting more pressure on rivers, reservoirs and the water network.
The hosepipe ban in the capital is expected to remain in place until the local reservoir levels, underground water stores, and river flows recover sufficiently.