Ah, the Great British Summer. Don’t you just love it? Nothing but glorious rain, rain and more rain. While there have been some pesky bouts of warm sunshine here and there, for the most part we’re glad to see that the summer of 2012 is keeping up the good old-fashioned UK tradition of being a complete and utter washout.

If you just can’t get enough aquatic amusement this June, never fear! We’ve rounded up our favourite rain and water-inspired works of art for you to enjoy – for extra fun, why not check them out AS it’s raining?

London in Puddles

Writer, musician, Lomo photographer and all-round creative Gavin Hammond has captured the capital’s sodden splendour in a series of photographs entitled ‘London in Puddles’, which see some of the city’s most famous sights reflected in pooled rainwater. You can see more examples of London In Puddles on Gavin’s Tumblr page here.

Rain

Using nothing more than a cleverly crafted combination of fishing line and hand-crafted glass beads, in her Rain installation American artist Stacee Kalmanovsky has created the illusion of falling rain inside a building. Suspended beneath skylights, this sculpture is a beautiful snapshot reminder of the summer downpours that we’re all currently enjoying. Viewers can also interact with Rain, moving amongst the threads to affect the pattern and arrangement of the ‘rainfall’.

Water Sculpture Flowers

Double take, anyone? Though this may seem like a shot of a colourful flower at first glance, it’s actually a mind-bogglingly well-timed high speed image of coloured water. For his Vessels and Blooms series, US photographer Jack Long spent many painstaking months arranging  formations of liquid dyes that would resemble leaves, stems and petals once fired in the air, which would then be snapped on camera. You can see the whole collection here.

Second-hand Rain Sculpture

Using recycled and reclaimed material (which included derelict scaffolding, 300 white sacks and two goal posts), Fine Art student Chloe Jane Chandler created an impressive structure that resembles rain falling from a cloud. Not only is it aesthetically pleasing; it’s environmentally friendly, too: as Chloe asserts, “The sculpture will collect water from rainfall and continue to ‘rain’ long after the other clouds have gone away”. That's one way to get around the hosepipe ban.  

Indoor Rain Clouds

With his indoor cloud creations, Dutch artist Berndnaut Smildeas manages to work the impossible. Combining moisture with a smoke machine and some dramatic lightning, the image of the artist's "typical Dutch rain cloud inside of a space" is created; using this method, Smildeas became the first ever artist to put on an indoor cloud exhibition in 2010, titled Nimbus. However, as each cloud only lasts for a moment before dissipating, real rain cloud fans are advised to stay in the UK (where the clouds never, ever disappear).

For even more rain, check out the Met Office's website here, and find out when a shower will be hitting your area next.