A woman wearing a rain poncho on Westminster Bridge in central London during wet weather (Picture: London News Pictures)
This year’s disappointing summer holiday weather will end in a washout for many of us today.
Forecasters at the Met Office have issued a thunderstorm warning for a huge swathe of England from Newcastle-upon-Tyne through the Midlands and London down to the Isle of Wight.
The alert, running from 4am to 9pm on Sunday, also covers eastern Wales.
It isn’t bad news across the board though, with drier and brighter conditions expected in the far northwest of England and warm and humid weather predicted in the southeast where temperatures could reach as high as 30C.
But Met Office deputy chief meteorologist Dan Harris said this is ‘very much dependent on cloud breaks’ and that conditions would only ‘briefly turn’ warmer.
Thundery downpours are likely to hit the south of England, the Midlands, the north of England and eastern parts of Wales on Sunday.
‘A few showers and isolated thunderstorms are expected to develop across parts of southern England on Saturday night, but by Sunday morning there is an increasing risk of more active and organised heavy showers and thunderstorms moving in to, or developing across, parts of southern England,’ a Met Office spokesman said.
People walking in wet and windy conditions near Tower Bridge, London (Picture: PA)
‘The risk of storms will then steadily transfer broadly northwards through the afternoon and into the early evening.
‘The extent of these thunderstorms is very uncertain, and many places will miss them, but where they do occur, 30 to 40 mm of rain may fall in less than an hour with perhaps over 75 mm in one or two places, leading to a chance of flooding and disruption.
Meteorologists said there was a ‘small chance of flooding and disruption from heavy showers and thunderstorms’ on Sunday in a few places, including power cuts.
‘There is a small chance that homes and businesses could be flooded quickly, with damage to some buildings from floodwater, lightning strikes, hail or strong winds,’ a Met Office spokesman said.
They also said it could lead to difficult driving conditions and some road closures, as well as cancellations to some train and bus services.
‘Frequent lightning strikes and hail will be additional hazards, most likely across southern and central England.’
The Met Office has issued a yellow warning for thunderstorms covering a large swathe of England and eastern Wales from 4am until 9pm on Sunday (Picture: Metro.co.uk)
Summer has been cooler than usual in the UK with ‘slightly below average sun’, the latest Met Office statistics show.
Rainfall has varied between regions but has been average.
A heatwave swept parts of the UK in September last year, with temperatures topping 30C somewhere in the country for seven consecutive days.
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