AS IF we needed telling, weathermen have revealed Weymouth and Dorchester endured a miserable summer.

Weymouth had the wettest August for more than 13 years as rain battered the town and Dorchester endured its coldest summer in 23 years.

Almost twice the average amount of rain soaked the resort as August produced 90mm – 188 per cent – of the 30-year average of 47.9mm.

The Echo reported how water threatened to flood businesses along Weymouth Esplanade when downpours swept across the borough in mid-August.

Further along the coast Bournemouth was swamped by a deluge of rain causing chaos on the first day of the air show.

Weymouth weatherman Bob Poots said: “Although we were treated to sunshine on nearly all days in August this year, when it rained it did so with ferocity.

“The carnival got through the day without much rain and the afternoon and evening were dry, the hours of darkness were a different story with heavy rain from around 2.30am.”

A 40-hour period in mid-August saw almost the entire month’s average rainfall batter the town.

The wettest August was in 1960 when 144.8mm of rain was recorded. To date 2011 is 29.5mm below the annual average.

The sun shone on all but three days during the month, but the total sunshine for the month was 17 hours and 24 minutes below the 30-year average.

The average maximum temperature was slightly below the average at 19.5 degrees.

Meanwhile Dorchester weatherman John Oliver said the average temperature in the county town from June to August was the lowest on record since 1988.

The average maximum day temperature was 19.7 degrees Celsius, 1.3C below the average for the period.

Just 27 days exceeded the average summer temperature of 21C, with the mercury at its highest on August 2 when temperatures reached 26.5C. Rainfall was also above average for all three summer months, with a total of 44 days in the summer season seeing rain compared to the average of 34 days, with two days receiving more than 25mm of rain.

The total rainfall across the 31 months was 261.4mm, representing 151 per cent of the summer average.

The longest period without rain was 10 days from June 25 to July 4.

Thunder was heard on three days in August, including a thunderstorm on the morning of August 26 that produced 20mm in half an hour, causing some localised flooding.