Keep these in mind while you wait for the forecast

1 The water park at the Oasis Leisure Centre - www.better.org.uk/leisure-centre/swindon/oasis-leisure-centre-swindon - recently re-opened following three months of refurbishment. The most spectacular feature is the new flume tower and there are also new slides, shower, boiler and pool filters. The timely re-opening means people who prefer their water warm and in a pool rather than cold and falling from the sky would be hard pushed to find a more exciting alternative.

2 Laser Quest Swindon - http://www.lqswindon.co.uk – at Shaw Ridge Leisure Park offers safe science fiction themed fun for the whole family. Participants are issued with harmless guns and wearable target packs with flashing lights for others to aim at, and there are plenty of towers, mazes and other obstacles which are ideal for hiding in or behind while, preparing a devastating ambush for that special someone. Scores are automatically totted up at the end of each session.

3 Swindon Karting Arena - swindonkarting.co.uk - in Hangar C2 at Wroughton Airfield has been on the roster of popular local indoor attractions for 15 years, catering to a client base ranging from families to corporate team-builders and stag and hen groups. The track is billed as the fastest of its kind in the region, but the emphasis is just as much on safety as it is on fun, and staff are carefully trained. A range of packages from taster sessions to endurance races can be arranged.

4 The Museum of Computing in Swindon’s Theatre Square - www.museumofcomputing.org.uk – might not have as high a profile as some other museums in the area, but is no less worth a visit. The array of fascinating exhibits trace the history of computing and calculation from the earliest manual calculating devices to the dawn of the popular computing age and beyond, and there is a rolling programme of special events and displays. Entirely volunteer-run, it is open only on Saturdays.

5 If the Oasis Leisure Centre is best known for its pool and slides, its fellow Swindon venue the Link Centre - www.better.org.uk/leisure-centre/swindon/the-link-centre - takes the honours among skaters and lovers of trampolining. Its rink is renowned, and its trampoline park, opened three years ago, has more than 100 trampolines. They range from types ideal for beginners to trampolines suitable for would-be champions sharpening their technique.

6 Swindon Escape Rooms at Co-Decode - co-decode.co.uk – is based at the Cheney Manor Industrial Estate. It is part of the relatively new Escape Room phenomenon in which groups of participants are sealed in a location and must gather clues from the environment, and objects in that environment, in order to free themselves. Swindon Escape Rooms offers a choice of scenarios and difficulty levels to suit everybody from beginners to seasoned escape artists. Full details can be found on the website.

7 Not all rainy-day activities have to involve adrenaline or taxing the brain or body. Malmesbury Abbey - http://www.malmesburyabbey.com – is one of the region’s most important and fascinating historic sites. Visitors can marvel at the skill of the people who built the 12th century structure, and see the tomb of Athelstan, the Anglo Saxon King who was buried in an earlier structure on the site.

8 No1 Royal Crescent - no1royalcrescent.org.uk – is one of the most exquisite of Bath’s many architectural jewels. No1 is a museum so carefully decorated and fitted our that visitors are given an immersive insight into life among the well-to-do of England in the late 18th century.

9 The Saxon Church of St Laurence in Bradford on Avon - http://www.htboa.org/saxonchurch.html – was said by famed early historian William of Malmesbury to have been in operation nearly 900 years ago, although according to the website of this working church, William thought the structure dated back much further. Many of the ancient features have been preserved. Visitors are welcomed, and the website gives details of opening times.

10 Corinium Museum in Cirencester - coriniummuseum.org – covers 40,000 years of local history, including the civilisations which were already ancient when the Romans arrived.