Flooding is possible, weather officials warn (Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Up to 75mm of rain could bucket it down in less than an hour this Sunday as massive thunderstorms are forecast for almost two-thirds of England.
The Met Office has issued a yellow thunderstorm warning which covers London, the South East, North East, North West, South West and the Midlands.
The yellow alert, active from 4am to 9pm tomorrow, also covers eastern Wales.
Forecasters say there is a ‘slight chance’ of flooding, lightning strikes and power outages.
The thunderstorms will start to rumble in the south first before ‘steadily’ moving northwards through the afternoon and evening, weather officials say.
Hazards like lightning strikes and hail could happen in the south and central England (Picture: Metro.co.uk:
‘The extent of these thunderstorms is very uncertain, and many places will miss them, but where they do occur, 30 to 40mm of rain may fall in less than an hour with perhaps over 75mm in one or two places, leading to a chance of flooding and disruption,’ the warning says.
‘Frequent lightning strikes and hail will be additional hazards, most likely across southern and central England.’
A yellow weather warning means disruption to daily life is ‘likely’.
What areas does the yellow warning cover?
Regions and local authorities affected:
East Midlands
Derby
Derbyshire
Leicester
Leicestershire
Lincolnshire
Northamptonshire
Nottingham
Nottinghamshire
Rutland
East of England
Bedford
Cambridgeshire
Central Bedfordshire
Hertfordshire
Luton
Peterborough
London & South East England
Bracknell Forest
Buckinghamshire
Greater London
Hampshire
Isle of Wight
Milton Keynes
Oxfordshire
Portsmouth
Reading
Slough
Southampton
Surrey
West Berkshire
West Sussex
Windsor and Maidenhead
Wokingham
North East England
Darlington
Durham
Gateshead
Hartlepool
Middlesbrough
Newcastle upon Tyne
North Tyneside
Northumberland
Redcar and Cleveland
South Tyneside
Stockton-on-Tees
Sunderland
North West England
Blackburn with Darwen
Cheshire East
Cheshire West and Chester
Cumbria
Greater Manchester
Halton
Lancashire
Merseyside
Warrington
South West England
Bath and North East Somerset
Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole
Bristol
Dorset
Gloucestershire
North Somerset
Somerset
South Gloucestershire
Swindon
Wiltshire
Wales
Monmouthshire
Newport
Torfaen
Wrexham
West Midlands
Herefordshire
Shropshire
Staffordshire
Stoke-on-Trent
Telford and Wrekin
Warwickshire
West Midlands Conurbation
Worcestershire
Yorkshire & Humber
East Riding of Yorkshire
Kingston upon Hull
North East Lincolnshire
North Lincolnshire
North Yorkshire
South Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
York
The yellow weather warning comes on top of another two issued by public health officials.
Yellow heat health alerts for the East and South East of England are in effect until 9am Monday as the UK sees temperatures nearly reach 30°C this weekend.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) says ‘minor impacts’ are probable across the health and social care sector, especially for more vulnerable people.
Both warnings say there may be an ‘increase in risk of mortality amongst vulnerable individuals and increased potential for indoor environments to become very wars’.
Got a story? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. Or you can submit your videos and pictures here.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
Follow Metro.co.uk on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news updates. You can now also get Metro.co.uk articles sent straight to your device. Sign up for our daily push alerts here.