No sign of sunshine for next ten days

The worst of the weather may have passed – but forecasters are warning there continues to be no respite from the wet stuff this week or for the rest of the month.

Many homes were left under water over the weekend and one driver died when his car left the road after a month's worth of rain fell in just 24 hours in many parts of the country.

Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman yesterday met flood victims in Devon, where a huge clean-up operation was under way after the area saw the worst of the bad weather.

Forecaster Matt Dobson said England and Wales were unlikely to see much sunny weather during the next 10 days, and the rest of July is likely to remain unsettled.

Mr Dobson said: "Today we are looking at more scattered showers but it should be a little bit better than it has been over the past few days.

"Looking ahead it is a very unsettled week with no respite from the wet weather.

"There will be heavy downpours tomorrow and Thursday, particularly across England and Wales, and no sign of any sunny weather for the next 10 days." Mr Dobson said scattered heavy showers were affecting the West Midlands and east Wales, with heavy thunderstorms over Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

Heavy showers will hit London and the south coast today, and there will be a risk of thunderstorms over central and eastern England, he said.

The Environment Agency still has 89 flood alerts and 14 flood warnings in place, but the Met Office has no weather warnings currently issued for the UK.

But there is one piece of good news – the incessant rain has finally spelled the end of the hosepipe ban. The final four water companies with bans announced they are lifting them with immediate effect.

South East Water, Sutton and East Surrey Water, Veolia Water Central and Veolia Water Southeast said the restrictions that have been in place since early April have now ended following the "abnormally heavy rainfall" in much of the country.

A joint statement from the four companies said they were heavily dependent on ground water supplies but these have now recovered sufficiently to enable them to lift the bans. The West Midlands was officially taken out of drought status last month.

To see a seven-day weather forecast for the West Midlands and Staffordshire click here.