If you believe in St Swithin's, break out the sunblock Over the past weeks, torrential downpours have caused flooding in many areas, and household insurance costs are expected to rise as a result of widespread water damage. A number of flood warnings are still in place, and the Met Office has issued another severe weather warning for today, expecting heavy rain in the south, east and north west of England, the Midlands, Yorkshire, Wales and London. Charlie Powell, a forecaster at the Met Office, said that Britain would enjoy the best weather for more than a month on Sunday and "less intense" rainfall over the coming week. "Sunday is going to be one of the driest days in the last six weeks," he said. If you want to go out and do something, Sunday will be the best day to do it. The last time we had a long sunny spell was at the end of May, but then things started to deteriorate over the Jubilee weekend. Helen Chivers, a colleague, said that the rain had been brought by Atlantic weather systems crossing Britain. In a normal year they would only affect the North West. "It causes wind, rain and relatively low temperatures," she said. As a result, parts of Britain have already seen three times the amount of rain usually expected for the whole of July. The Isle of Portland in Dorset was the wettest place, recording 3,9in (99mm) of rainfall so far. Last month saw 5.7in (145mm) of rainfall in Britain, twice the average for the month and the wettest June since records began in 1910. Victoria Kettley, a forecaster for Meteogroup, agreed that it looked likely to be sunny for St Swithin's but unsettled beyond that into the Olympics. But those in Scotland and Northern Ireland may yet be disappointed, with some showers predicted there.