Will there be another heatwave this summer or will August bring more rain?

The first half of summer gave us warmth, sunshine - and multiple heatwaves.

But over the last few weeks things have changed with heavy rain bringing some of the wettest weather of the season so far.

With most schools on summer holiday, the UK's highest temperatures are typically recorded during July and August.

You may well be wondering whether sunshine and warmth will return and if another heatwave could be on the cards.

High pressure dominated the first part of the summer.

This brought prolonged dry spells and three separate heatwaves with temperatures peaking at 35.8C (96.4F) at Faversham (Kent) on 1 July.

But since then we have seen a big change in our weather patterns.

The jet stream has dipped southwards sending areas of low pressure towards our shores.

This generated enough rain to give flash flooding in some places - including parts of Northern Ireland and eastern England - but not enough to allow hosepipe bans to be lifted. Some places have experienced severe thunderstorms and there was even a tornado in County Durham.

Pattern changes like this are common in meteorology - one type of weather can last for several weeks before changing to something totally different.

Long-term outlooks from BBC Weather - and also the Met Office, external - suggest that August is likely to start on a rather breezy note with westerly winds and some rain, particularly in the north of the UK.

Drier conditions are more likely further south and east.

Depending on the exact wind direction, temperatures may be just below or just above the seasonal norm.

A few computer model runs do hint at some heat developing in the south but at the moment this looks quite unlikely.

There are some signs that high pressure may start to take more control as we head deeper into August, with more chance of dry and settled weather.

If it sticks around for long enough - and if southerly or easterly winds develop - some very warm or hot weather could return.

However, long-range forecasting is always prone to uncertainty and different computer models provide different ideas of exactly what might be coming our way.

Dry, hot weather is far from guaranteed in August - in fact it tends to be the wettest of the summer months, with the UK typically recording more rainfall overall than in June or July.

As the rest of summer plays out you can keep up to date with your local forecast by downloading the BBC Weather app.