A persistent easterly influence has brought the almost constant drizzle and low temperatures, continuing an unseasonal pattern that has been evident for much of the year.

Travellers are reporting hazardous driving conditions with fog and low cloud adding to the problems throughout the Blue Mountains.

They said that while the Lithgow area has been experiencing a soaking drizzle the rain becomes heavier along the coastal strip.

The rain has been increasingly patchy further west of Lithgow although conditions were cold and overcast.

A Bathurst correspondent yesterday described conditions there as ‘miserable’.

The weather has been particularly a headache for parents seeking to keep children entertained during the wet school holidays.

Many local roads are showing the effects of the big wet with potholes appearing at numerous locations.

Yesterday the Weather Bureau was tipping further rain for today then clearing for tomorrow and Saturday as the weather pattern swings away from the east to a north westerly influence.

For weather weary residents the change can not come soon enough.