Met Office extends UK weather warning as thunderstorms batter southern England
The Met Office has extended warnings for travel disruption and possible flooding after heavy rain battered southern England and Wales overnight.
Widespread thunderstorms led to yellow warnings for frequent lightning, heavy rainfall, hail and gusty winds for parts of Wales and a swathe of southern England encompassing London, Plymouth and Oxford overnight and into Thursday morning.
Videos and photos posted by on social media by residents of a number of southern cities showed the impacts of heavy showers and the constant rumbling of thunder.
Some members of the public described it as one of the worst lightning events they had seen in a long time. “Crazy lightning tonight,” wrote Kerry Groves, a resident of Haywards Heath. “Not seen this much in years.”
The Met Office warned commuters on Thursday morning to expect difficult driving conditions, road closures and some flooding ahead of what is expected to be another warm day.
There is also a chance of delays and some cancellations to train and bus services, along with a small possibility of power cuts.
On Thursday morning, Met Office maps show upto 32mm per hour of rain falling on some regions as unsettled weather continues.
The Met Office issued two yellow weather warnings yesterday for disruptive weather. The first began at 8pm on Wednesday evening, covering an area stretching from Portsmouth to Plymouth, and northwards to South Wales, and will expire at 8am on Thursday.
The other warning covered southeast England and was initiall in place from 11pm to 6am – that has now been extended to 10am.
Rainfall forecast for Thursday morning shows several areas in red with upto 32 mm per hour of rainfall expected (Met Office)
Aaron Chesham, a photographer, shared pictures of rainfall and lightning at the seafront in Southend.
The unsettled weather was expected to continue in the morning with more lightning storms heading towards the country.
However, after a period of storms, rainfall is expected to ease during the day, Marco Petagna, a meteorologist at the Met Office, said.
“We could see the skies brightening up in a few places and it will be another warm day,” he told PA.
Some parts of the country could see their warmest temperatures of the year on Thursday, Mr Petagna said. This would come a day after Wednesday saw temperatures peak at their highest yet in 2024 at 22.1C.
Parts of the South East could get to 24 degrees, he suggested.
“But as the skies brighten and temperatures increase, this could spark a few more thundery showers in the afternoon, so it is likely to still be a bit unsettled and the forecast will be changeable over the next few days.”
While southern parts of the country will experience heavy rain, areas in the North should stay dry and warm.
For the week ahead, the Met Office says the weather will continue to be a “very mixed picture”.
Most areas of the country are likely to experience some rain but temperatures will remain fairly warm, in the mid to late teens.
The wet start to May comes after last month became the sixth wettest April for the UK since records began in 1836, with an average of 111.4mm rain across the country, according to provisional Met Office figures.
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