MANILA, Philippines?Though it has been cloudy in recent days, the weather bureau says there is very little chance of rain.

Worse, according to forecaster Robert Sawi, temperatures may be expected to rise again on Friday when the clouds are expected to clear.

Sawi said the recent cloudy weather was because of the tail end of a cold front affecting Luzon. This frontal system is spreading some clouds over the region, especially the northern part of Luzon, he said.

?If it rains, it will only be brief showers,? said Sawi of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration.

He said the reported brief rainshowers in Ifugao and the Northern Luzon provinces were due to the cold front. ?But these won?t be strong and it will only be brief,? he said.

A cold front is the point where cold air from the northern hemisphere and the warm winds of the equator meet.

?It?s still going to be hot because the clouds are actually trapping the heat from the sun. But this might be the last time we will be experiencing cloudy weather. We expect the hot weather to continue by Friday,? he said.

Sawi expects the easterlies, or the warm and humid eastern wind from the Pacific, to affect the climate in the next few days, with temperatures ranging from 34 and 35 Celsius.

In the Mindanao area, some brief rainshowers can be expected because of the big cloud formations, especially in the eastern sections of the region, he said.

Metro Manila and the rest of the country have lately been experiencing soaring temperatures, a result of the El Niño phenomenon, or the unusual warming of sea surface temperatures in the Pacific which brings hot weather and drought.

The water levels in the country?s dams have dropped close to critical levels. Damage to agriculture until June is estimated to reach P10 billion.