SINGAPORE - The nation woke up to sweater weather and heavy rain on Tuesday (July 13) morning, with temperatures dipping to as low as 22.5 deg C in Admiralty at 10.46am, said the weatherman.

This was not the first time that Singapore experienced such cool weather this year. Temperatures fell below 22 deg C on Jan 2, when parts of the island saw prolonged and persistent heavy rain.

According to the Meteorological Service Singapore's (MSS) website, heavy rainfall was recorded in the north-western parts of the island - such as Ang Mo Kio, Upper Peirce Reservoir, Bukit Panjang and Tengah, with Bukit Panjang recording the highest rainfall collected at 114.2mm since midnight.

Heavy showers were also observed in Toa Payoh and Tai Seng.

The national water agency PUB said on Facebook that water levels in drains and canals had reached 90 per cent in areas such as Woodlands Road, Yio Chu Kang Road, Cactus Road, off Yio Chu Kang Road, and at the Sime Darby Centre in Bukit Timah between 7.05am and 7.40am on Tuesday morning, and that there was a risk of flash floods.

There were flash floods along Tampines Expressway in the morning, Lianhe Zaobao reported. A video shows vehicles moving slowly through the water, which had risen to the height of half a wheel and spanned the width of the expressway.

The breezy weather had also seen high wind speeds in southern Singapore, at 51.9kmh at Marina Barrage at 3.09pm, and at 49.8kmh in Pasir Panjang at 7.12am.

Large trees also collapsed in Yishun and Bukit Batok during the heavy thunderstorms.

Nee Soon GRC MP Faishal Ibrahim said on Facebook that the heavy downpour had uprooted a tree at Block 645 Yishun Street 61, without causing damage to common property.

He added that the Nee Soon Town Council had acted quickly to barricade the site and provide traffic control while the fallen tree was removed.

Associate Professor Faisal also said the town council's horticulture contractor will be arranging for a replacement tree.

In a separate incident, a tree, which was about four-storeys tall, collapsed on four motorcycles in a carpark at Block 417 Bukit Batok Avenue 4 at around 10am, Lianhe Zaobao reported.

The MSS said in its fortnightly weather outlook on July 1 that more thundery showers could be expected in the first half of the month.

Short-duration thundery showers had been forecast for the first week of July, occurring mainly between the morning and early afternoon.

Prevailing winds in the region were also expected to converge over Singapore and its surrounding vicinity.

This could influence the development of Sumatra squalls - a line of thunderstorms - leading to widespread thundery showers and gusty winds over Singapore between pre-dawn hours and the morning.

In the second week of July, most of the thundery showers should be short and localised due to strong day-time heating of land areas, the MSS had said.

The weather is likely to be partly cloudy in the next three days, with afternoon thundery showers expected on Saturday.

The daily temperatures will also return to a range of 25 deg C to 34 deg C.