WIMBLEDON eventually took on a wet look, the Queen's Golden Jubilee bank holiday was a bit on the damp side and gardeners' allotments have been well and truly waterlogged.

But if everything goes to plan, there will hardly be a drop of drizzle during the next few weeks.

That's according to the folk who believe a 1,000-year-old myth about the weather.

They are sure the sun will shine for the next 40 days if the rain stays at bay on Monday -- because it's St Swithin's Day. Legend has it that if it rains on that day, it rains for 40 days. But if the sun comes out, it keeps on shining.

St Swithin could be a popular figure by Tuesday.

But the men and women at the Met Office describe the legend as "pie in the sky".

North-west weather expert Sean Clarke said: "Some sayings about the weather -- such as red sky at night being a shepherd's delight -- are based on scientific fact.

"But the idea that it will rain for 40 days if it rains on St Swithin's Day is just an old wives' tale.

"Even if it pours down on Monday, the rain will not last for 40 days."

One person who disagrees is Westhoughton pensioner Barbara Haworth, who will celebrate her 78th birthday on Monday. She said: "I've seen a lot of St Swithin's Days in my lifetime and I'd say the legend has more or less turned out to be true.

"It nearly always rains on my birthday and there's usually a lot of bad weather afterwards as well. There was a right old thunderstorm when I was 21 in 1945."

Mrs Haworth, who is a member of Westhoughton Townswomen's Guild, has had a stone circle built in her front garden to mark the arrival of her birthday. And it has been constructed so that the sun, if it comes out on Monday, will shine on the biggest stone at exactly 6.30am.

She said: "I've only seen the sun shine on it a few times, but I'm hopeful it will all come good on Monday.

"We've had so much bad weather this year and I'm really fed up with it."