A HEAVY downpour of rain finally arrived yesterday, ending a prolonged period of dry weather stretching back to the start of June.

The region had been sizzling under the summer sun for weeks, generating an early season boom for the tourism trade and perfect conditions for barbecues.

But a burst of wet weather arrived in full force yesterday and although unpopular with many, it was welcomed by some farmers who had been crying out for a break in the heatwave.

The rainfall was the result of a patch of low pressure that had moved up to the UK from the South of France over the weekend.

Joe Osborne of meteorological experts Weatherquest, which supplies the EADT with its forecasts, said Suffolk had got off lightly as storms from the same patch of low pressure had wreaked havoc in Holland.

He said: “This particular low is going to drift off into the North Sea but then we are in a pattern of lower pressure at the moment and we have another to the west of Ireland which could bring further unsettled weather through until Friday.”

He said a “tornado” spotted in Bury St Edmunds was more likely to be a funnel cloud, a not-uncommon occurrence in such conditions.

Torrential downpours drenched Ipswich, causing flash-flooding in parts of the town and manhole covers to be lifted up due to the force of the water flowing below them. Flooding was also reported in Framlingham while power was temporarily cut off to hundreds of homes in the north of the county.