A DRAMATIC change in York's weather is on the way, say forecasters.

After many weeks with lots of dry, warm sunshine and very little rain, the city is set to see outbreaks of heavy and thundery rain from Saturday onwards.

BBC Weather, in association with MeteoGroup, says today and tomorrow will see more sunny, dry weather, with temperatures reaching 20C today and 23C tomorrow.

But it says Saturday will be windy with a band of heavy, showery and possibly thundery rain moving in from the south-west through the day.

Although Sunday will see some sunshine in the morning, more heavy rain will move in from the west and Monday will also be windy with outbreaks of rain.

Thundery showers are also forecast next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

The Met Office says Saturday and Sunday will be cloudy and windy, with rain or showers, locally heavy or thundery, potentially merging to give more persistent rain for a time. 

The change in the weather will come just over a week after Yorkshire Water introduced a hosepipe ban across the region, after one of the driest springs and summers on record left reservoirs less than half full.