WHAT a difference a day makes! After a few days sweltering in the sun, holidaymakers were left sheltering from the showers as they struggled to make sense of Britain's hit-and-miss weather.

Bournemouth and Poole's beaches, which had attracted more than 60,000 visitors over the weekend, were suddenly deserted as the rain clouds loomed.

Dorset was fortunate to escape the thunder and lightning that caused chaos in the South East, affecting the railway network and leading to dozens of homes being flooded.

But the conurbation still suffered several hours of incessant rain as the promised heatwave turned into a humid haze.

The dramatic about-turn has increased speculation about global warming and irreversible climate change.

But Dr Richard Wild, senior meteorologist at Bournemouth-based Weathernet, said neither the high temperatures nor heavy rain were particularly unusual for this time of year.

"There's so much hype about the weather that the minute the temperature goes above 32 degrees Celsius we start talking about a heatwave, even though it's not that unusual.

"Then of course we're surprised when that gives way to rain.

"It's like seeing a British player in the second week of Wimbledon we all get excited and think they are going to win it.

"In actual fact, this is pretty typical British weather."

He added the changeable weather was set to continue into the weekend with a mix of sunshine and showers on the way.

Temperatures will drop by another couple of degrees over the next few days, leaving the region about seven or eight degrees cooler than it was at the beginning of the week.