A SIX-WEEK drought which has dessicated landscapes across Oxfordshire was brought to a spectacular end tonight as the heavens finally opened.

Oxford Mail:

Following storm warnings for the whole of the South East from the Met Office this morning, the skies finally opened over Oxford at 7pm.

The downpour caught people across the county off-guard, with Friday night revellers in shorts and summer dresses running for cover.

Oxford Mail:

Broad Street in Oxford captured shortly after 8pm on the Oxford Martin School's live webcam feed.

The rain also came as a nasty shock to the crowd at this year's Truck Festival in Steventon, who had just been counting their lucky stars that the scene there was such a stark contrast to last year's mud bath.

However, many who have sweltered in the heatwave for the past six weeks welcomed the relief.

Snowflake Books in Summertown tweeted a picture from their window, thanking the Chinese dragon king for the rain:

Tourist Eszter Hercsik, meanwhile, said she had a great day in the city despite the rain:

Katherine Fender also tweeted a picture from her window:

While Rebecca Smart simply wrote:

Looking ahead, the Met Office yellow warning for thunderstorms is still in place, and forecasters say there is a 90 per cent chance of rain for the rest of tonight:

Oxford Mail:

From midnight onwards, it seems to be back to business as usual, with highs of 26C over the weekend and 28C on Monday.

We suggest you enjoy it while you can - like these people: