That's it from us for today then.

You can read Stephan Shemilt's report on what little action was possible on day three at Lord's here.

New Zealand will resume on 55-5 on day four, when we are promised much better weather, and England will be out to clinch victory.

Join us again for that!

Fewer than 10 overs were bowled today but England did managed to take two wickets.

It was Ollie Robinson doing the business again, bowling Rachin Ravindra before trapping Daryl Mitchell lbw.

England will be back tomorrow then to try and wrap up victory and claim a 1-0 series lead.

They need another five wickets, New Zealand require another 199 runs and WinViz thinks Ben Stokes' side have got this one in the bag.

Image source, CricViz

There's the news we've been expecting for some time.

It has seemed inevitable for hours and the umpires have now abandoned play for the day.

Inspection done. At no point did the umbrellas come down so I'm assuming it is still raining a little.

The reason it is so hard to tell is because it is now so dark here at Lord's. With that in mind, even if it dry enough to play in an hour or so, I doubt the light will be good enough.

I'd be staggered if they got back on now.

Here come the umpires. The wait goes on...

It's gone quarter past now and there's no sign of the umpires.

The third (or is it fourth?) umpire remained out in the middle and did put his umbrella down for a minute.

It's back up now and if the rain has picked up, that inspection might be off and that could be it? Maybe? Surely?

If, and I must stress it remains a big IF, play does resume, there won't be much of a crowd in to see in.

A decent number will be sheltering under the stands but plenty look to have given up and headed home.

Remarkably, the umpires have not given up hope of getting the players back out there today.

They will be back out in a little under 10 minutes' time to inspect again.

Doesn't feel like things will look too much different then, especially as umbrellas are still up so it seems it is still raining, albeit much less heavily.

Umpires ready to call it a day?published at 17:03 BST

17:03 BST

The umpires, umbrellas very much up, are out to have a look.

They're in discussion with the head groundsman. Given it is still raining, this all points to an official abandonment of the day's play pretty soon.

For now, though, we wait.

Good question, Sam. For all that it might sometimes feel that it never stops raining during the British summer, very few days are completely washed out.

Even today, we've had almost 10 overs of play and the weather has been abysmal. I don't have an exact number to hand, though.

In the UK, fans get a full refund if fewer than 15 overs are bowled in a Test match day and a 50% refund if between 15.1 and 30 overs are bowled.

If you've stuck it out this long, Kate...

But I'd be trying to position myself to make a hasty exit once play is called for the day, which sadly seems inevitable at this stage.

Who knows, though? I've been wrong before so maybe they'll walk out in glorious sunshine at six o'clock.

It is looking bleak, folks.

The rain is still falling and if you factor in around an hour for the mop up when it does stop, time is fast running out if we're to get anymore play today.

It has got that much darker again at Lord's and, yes, the rain is back.

The groundstaff were lingering by the covers for a bit but are trudging off now as it gets heavier.

Sorry, James. I think we've mentioned the terrible forecast for the day a few times but here it is for the next few hours as you asked so nicely.

Not ideal, to say the least but it is dry for the minute. That said it has just got a bit gloomier again.

Tomorrow should be absolutely fine, no rain forecast so the chances of a draw are extremely slim despite the expectation of plenty more rain on Monday.

Image source, BBC Sport

Thanks, Mavis. I was about to say, I fear it might be too late for play today if we're waiting for the weather to reach us from Cornwall...

But the rain has indeed stopped. The groundstaff have just returned to start the clean up operation.