The Met Office have announced on their website (here) their latest seasonal forecast.
The website reports that Met Office forecasters predict "For the rest of summer, rainfall is likely to be near or above average over the UK and much of northern Europe. For the UK and much of northern Europe temperatures for the rest of the summer are likely to be near or above average.
The weatherists predicted back in April that it was going to be warmer with temperatures likely to be higher than average across the UK. The Met Office has defended itself on a BBC article (here) saying temperatures have been around or above normal, people have already forgotten the hot weather experienced across many parts of Britain in June, and that the end of August might be better again.
The Met Office also conceded that it did indeed stress at the time of the summer forecast in April that the odds of a scorching summer were 65%, and explained that it coined the phrase 'barbecue summer' to help journalists' headlines.
The Met Office's recommendation for the rest of the summer festival season is that festival goers will need a brolly in August with the Met Office issuing this revised forecast of more unsettled weather well into the month.
Never mind the weather, if you fancy going to a festival near you on a free weekend, then take a look at our festival finder here, with 290 forthcoming festivals for 2009 listed, there's bound to be one for you.
If you haven't bought a festival ticket yet, take a look at what's on offer on our ticket page here.