There were showers in the morning, breaking an eight-day dry spell. As of 3pm, rainfall of 27.6mm was recorded.

And there is more rain to come. Thunderstorms are predicted in the late morning and early afternoon over the next few days until Tuesday, said the National Environment Agency's (NEA) Meteorological Service Division.

An NEA spokesman said the June-to-September period coincides with the south-west monsoon and is generally a drier season compared with other times of the year.

But rain is still possible.

Associate Professor Matthias Roth of the National University of Singapore's Geography Department said: 'There is no reason why there could not be rain; maybe not widespread, but local convective rain is always possible.'

An NEA spokesman agreed, saying rain could still occur because of convection, when water vapour evaporates and condenses to fall as rain.

The total rainfall recorded this month, as of June 11, was 2.8mm. The lowest figure for this month was 37mm, in 1985.

From March till May this year, the total monthly rainfall was 223.3mm, 183.7mm and 198.6mm respectively. Temperature-wise, if you feel things are hotter now, you are right.

The NEA said June is the hottest month of the year, followed by May and April, because of factors like light winds and strong solar heating.

The average temperatures for this April and May were 28.5 deg C and 28.7 deg C respectively, and for June so far, 29.5 deg C. The long-term average is 27.3deg C, 27.7 deg C and 27.7 deg C respectively.

Read the full story in today's edition of The Sunday Times.