August is on track to be the wettest ever

Five inches of rain fell in the first 12 days of August - just short of the average rainfall for the month as a whole - and of that total, four inches have fallen in the past four days.

Forecasters have revealed that more than one-and-half inches of rain fell in just 90 minutes on Thursday.

And, after a week when some roads in the town were under several feet of water after flash flooding, weather experts today warned that more is still to come.

The wettest August on record in Bolton was in 1992 when seven-and-a-half inches of rain fell over the town.

But with the unsettled weather predicted to continue into next week, Belmont weather expert Graham Fullarton believes this August could become the wettest ever on record.

Mr Fullarton said: "If August continues to follow the trend we have seen, there is every possibility that it will be the wettest August on record.

"It's been one of the wettest months so far, with hot, humid and rainy weather. We are likely to see more extreme weather conditions during the next few summers. It will either be very hot and dry like it was last year, or very stormy, as we have seen this week."

The worst-hit areas this week have been Egerton and Belmont, where roads were closed and motorists were left stranded in several feet of water on Thursday.

The water level was so high at one point that the A666 was closed near the Turton and Entwistle reservoir junction after water levels rose almost five feet.

The situation was just as bad in Belmont and Abbey Village were some drivers were forced to abandon their cars.

The erratic weather conditions have been blamed on the remains of Hurricane Alex, which came across the Atlantic, hit the UK, and continues to hover over the country.

But temperatures are at seasonal levels with sweltering temperatures of 26C last Sunday - the hottest day of the year.

Only one and-a-half inches of rain fell in the whole of August last year when Bolton sweltered in temperatures of up to 31C.