By Fiona Murray BBC News Online

Days and days of relentless rain, a severe lack of sunshine, coupled with a distinctly autumnal feel to the air - welcome to summer in Northern Ireland.

The Met Office confirmed what everyone already knew - it's been the wettest April to June since at least 1960, so, foreign tourists could be forgiven for opting to stay away.

In the first 10 days of July, the province experienced about 60% of the average rainfall for the month, with temperatures lower than expected.

Travel agents have reported an upsurge in the numbers of people booking last-minute holidays, in an attempt to escape from the damp and dismal weather.

But it is not necessarily just the rain which may be deterring people from coming to Northern Ireland.

Janice Gault, chief executive of the Northern Ireland Hotel Federation, said the rain did not affect foreign visitors.

She said hoteliers had been reporting a "mixed bag" of fortunes this year, depending on their location.

The inclement weather may be putting off visitors

"Some people are saying they are having an okay season, a bit slower than before but they are getting the bookings for July," she said.

"A lot of people who come are visiting friends and relatives. So most people are not coming for the good weather."

She said most tourists came from America and Germany.

"Tourism is not having a particularly brilliant time. The general world trade is down and there is problem with air access to the province. We only have direct air access from one European country into Northern Ireland."

She said businesses in the Republic of Ireland had reported a disastrous year until the end of June.

"The republic is our gateway. What happens there will have a knock-on effect here."

Travelling

County Antrim guesthouse owner Mary McFadden, who was crowned Landlady of the Year in May, said she had noticed fewer foreign visitors.

"The American market and the German market is down," said the Cushendun businesswoman.

"But I'm not entirely sure that is due to the weather. The Americans are not travelling and the German economy is on a downturn."

However, she said the weather did not seem to be deterring some people from within Northern Ireland from holidaying at home.

"The lack of foreign visitors has been made up by the local interests," she said. "This may be due to the publicity surrounding our award. But the weather is playing a part."

Optimism

Irene Adair, a member of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, agreed.

She has been the owner of a guesthouse and chalet business near Kilkeel in County Down for the past 23 years and says most of her customers are from Northern Ireland and England.

"The weather does play an important part," she said. "Most of the B&Bs in the area agree that June was not as good a month as usual.

"People don't want to head on holiday when it's bad weather. There's only a limited amount you can do."

However, she said the industry was optimistic that trade would pick up with imminent major events in the Mourne area, such as the Senior British Open at Royal County Down.

"We are used to knockbacks like foot-and-mouth. We are optimistic," she said.

People avail of indoor attractions

The Met Office said one reason for all the rain was low pressure which has dominated weather patterns over the past few months.

"It's difficult to pinpoint any specific factor which would have given us predominantly rather mobile and unsettled conditions," he said.

"In truth, the more settled, often drier periods in any one year tend to be offset or balanced by another more sustained wetter period during the same year."

But while the weather may be bad news for guesthouses, hotels and outdoor pursuits, rain certainly proves a boost to the indoor leisure industry.

Cinemas, amusement arcades and leisure centres report an upturn in business when the weather is poor.

Steve Mullan, manager of the UGC Cinema in Belfast, said there had been an increase in people coming to matinee shows.

However, he does not believe this is purely due to the weather.

"We have had big films on like Scooby Doo, which attract large audiences," he said.

"There has been an increase in families since the weekend, but I don't know if that's to do with our family promotion at the moment or the weather."

A spokeswoman for the W5 Science Centre at the Odyssey Complex in Belfast said visitor numbers had increased in the past week.

"We have been very busy and the weather has been dismal, but whether that is to do with the weather or not, we don't know," she said.