Britain should brace itself for a continuing trend of soggy summers, according to Met Office scientists, who have predicted that the natural warming of the Atlantic jet stream coupled with higher levels of greenhouse gases means that summers will be wet for a decade.
Leading scientists and meteorologists gathered at the Met Office on Tuesday to discuss the UK's unusual weather patterns in recent years.
They looked at what might have caused the cold winter of 2010/11, the wet summer of 2012, and this year's cold spring.
A house in Fife was almost swept away by the weight of the flood water in 2012
Professor Stephen Belcher, Head of the Met Office Hadley Centre and chair of the meeting, said the delegates heard about "exciting" research from the University of Reading into circulation of currents in the Atlantic.
"These areas of warm and cold water can affect the atmosphere, and load the dice as to where the jet stream is," he said.
If the jet stream ends in a southerly position, it can bring wet summers.
Ardingly Resevoir in West Sussex, which at one point in 2012 stood at only 12% of its capacity.
Snowy weather in January 2012 on the east side of the Pennines
Professor Rowan Sutton, of the University of Reading, said: "There will always be a lot of variability in British weather, but recent persistent patterns - such as the series of wet summers since 2007 - are unusual. This spring was the coldest for over 50 years, 2012 was the wettest in a century and December 2010 was the coldest on record, with national records dating back to 1910.
"Research at the University of Reading suggests that recent wet summers could be caused by a major warming of the North Atlantic Ocean that occurred back in the 1990s. The North Atlantic ocean has alternated slowly between warmer and cooler conditions over the last 100 years.
"We saw a rapid switch to a warmer North Atlantic in the 1990s and we think this is increasing the chances of wet summers over the UK and hot, dry summers around the Mediterranean - a situation that is likely to persist for as long as the North Atlantic remains in a warm phase.
"A transition back to a cooler North Atlantic, favouring drier summers in the UK and northern Europe, is likely and could occur rapidly. Exactly when this will happen is difficult to predict, but we're working on it.
"Other research at Reading suggests recent cold winters may be linked to a dip in the energy coming from the Sun and more frequent blocking events in the Eastern Atlantic. Blocking occurs when the warm jet stream from the west on its way to Northern Europe is blocked allowing north-easterly winds to arrive from the Arctic. Blocking episodes can persist for several weeks, leading to extended cold periods in winter.
"As well as such natural processes, we know that weather across the UK and Europe is being affected by higher levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. For example, rainfall events have become more intense and this is quite likely linked to a warmer climate. There is also some evidence linking the record low amounts of Arctic sea ice to UK weather, but this evidence is not yet conclusive either way."
The meeting was designed to assess the research done so far and discuss what needs to be studied in the future to get a better idea of what could be causing the weather extremes.
Earlier this month the Met Office said below average temperatures through March, April and May made it the fifth coldest spring in national records dating back to 1910 and the coldest spring since 1962.
Provisional findings show the UK's mean temperature for the season was just 6C (42.8F), while March was "exceptionally" cold, averaging 2.2C (36F).