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As the Met Office issues a severe weather warning for the weekend, meteorologists say the first five months of 2014 had the most rain on record.

If you thought news of a stormy, wet weekend was disappointing here's more grey news - weather experts believe that in some parts of the country, the start of 2014 has been the wettest on record.

While the Met Office is yet to release figures, more rain than ever has been recorded in Reading, Berkshire, in the first five months of the year, say experts at the town's university, where records go back to 1908.

"The start of 2014 has been the wettest first five months of any year on record," said meteorologist Dr Roger Brugge.

"Following the wet winter, spring (March to May) has also seen more rain than normal this year.

"At the University of Reading's observatory 194mm of rain fell - about 50% more than normal - also making it the wettest spring here for six years."

The total rainfall for Reading in Berkshire is 462mm, which is 25mm more than any other January to May period in the past century in Reading.

But despite the increased rainfall, the first five months of the year have been much milder than usual.

The university's flooding expert, Dr Hannah Cloke, warned that parts of Britain could see flash floods over the weekend after the Met Office issued a yellow warning for severe weather.

"The problem is likely to be exacerbated in areas where the ground is still wet from the winter floods, particularly in catchments with high groundwater levels and where rivers are still high following Britain's wettest winter ever," she said.

"Urban areas and small, steep catchments are likely to be vulnerable, especially those with little soil to absorb the water. Some towns and major roads could be quickly swamped as drainage systems become overwhelmed."

"But when it rains very heavily, almost anywhere could be at risk. Extremely intense bursts of rain can mean that the soil is simply unable to soak up the water fast enough, so excess water runs off and causes floods in all sorts of unexpected places."

Figures released by the Met Office in February confirmed the winter had been the wettest on record.

But the possibility of it being the wettest spring in parts of the country is not all bad news - temperatures are set to be mild but it is likely to be humid.

Meteorologist Dr Rob Thompson said that despite some media reports of huge hailstones, it is unlikely that any hail, if there is any, will be damaging.

However, he added that warm humid air coming from the continent would provide "the perfect recipe for an explosive thunderstorm" on Saturday.

"It is likely that there will be intense thunderstorms with very heavy rain, providing the potential for flash flooding," he said.