B.C.'s heat wave coming to an end

The hot, dry weather that had a grip on B.C. has come to an end, with cooler temperatures and rain in the forecast for most regions throughout the weekend and into next week.

Any rain, however little, will be welcomed by many gardeners and homeowners, after many South Coast municipalities moved to restrict or ban lawn sprinkling in order to conserve water.

However it remains unclear if the forecast precipitation will be enough to prompt authorities to lift those restrictions.

It also remains unclear how the rain or any lightning strikes it might bring will affect firefighting efforts in the province's vast forests.

Currently firefighters are battling nearly 200 wildfires around the province, some of which have left Metro Vancouver under a blanket of smoke for nearly a week and dozens of homes around the province under evacuation orders.

• Check the forecast for your region
• Get the latest updates on the B.C. fires
• B.C. fires: what you need to know

Low snow packs in the mountains from a warm winter, and hot dry weather this spring have left many municipal water reservoirs well below normal seasonal levels.

Despite the recent string of warm days and nights, much of B.C. was not officially in a heat wave, which is defined by Environment Canada as three straight days with maximum temperatures over 32 C.

But it is likely the hot, dry weather will return sometime soon, based on long-range forecasts issued this spring that blamed the conditions on a warm blob of water in the Pacific Ocean off the West Coast.