THIS September has been one of the driest across the UK since records began in 1910 – but sadly the dry, warm weather will not last.

Autumn will arrive in Worcestershire at the weekend with rain showers and colder conditions predicted.

Temperatures will fall by around 5C on Saturday, a small but noticeable change that will mark the end of the extended summer and prompt some to seek out the warmer clothes in their wardrobes.

Sunday will be dry and cloudy but with a cooler feel at about 14C, while Monday may provide rush-hour commuters with a shock to the system due to a very wet and windy start to the day.

The good news is that Wednesday, Thursday and Friday will be rain-free with warmer temperatures of between 17C and 19C.

However the extended spells of dry and warm weather experienced in September are soon to be a distant memory.

Early Met Office figures show the month is likely to have been the driest on record and in the top five warmest.

From September 1 to September 28 the UK as a whole received only 19.4mm of rain, which is just 20 per cent of the normal amount expected, while the mean temperature for the UK of 13.9C is 1.2C above the long-term average.

These exceptional conditions however have followed a very wet year and water levels in the county are not problematic.

Dave Throup, Environment Agency manager for Herefordshire and Worcestershire, said: “Overall water resources are in a healthy state which is a positive.

“The River Severn levels have dropped slightly below the average for this time of year but this is quite good news going into October and is nothing to worry about.”

A spokesman for the National Farmers' Union of England and Wales added the dry, warm September had not caused any particular issues and instead described the month as “reasonable” for Worcestershire’s farmers.