Weather warnings have been issued for heavy showers, thunderstorms and a small chance of flash floods posing a “danger to life”.
The Met Office issued three yellow warnings for thunderstorms across England, Scotland and Northern Ireland on Tuesday, stretching from midday up until the evening.
Check the weather forecast in your area
In the warnings, the weather agency said there is “a small chance of fast flowing or deep floodwater causing danger to life”.
Image: Pic: Met Office
The east of Northern Ireland, southernmost parts of Scotland, and parts of northern England are set to be worst affected, where the Met Office say “20 to 30 mm of rain may build up” over the evening.
It added: “Frequent lightning, hail and gusty winds will be additional hazards in some places.”
Another yellow thunderstorm warning is also in effect in Scotland on Wednesday, lasting from 10am to 7pm, and stretching from Edinburgh to Inverness.
Image: Pic: Met Office
The Met Office said showers on Wednesday in Scotland “will become heavier and more widespread later in the morning for the afternoon”.
“Where showers and storms develop, they could be slow-moving and prolonged, bringing 15-20 mm of rain in less than an hour and potentially 30-40 mm in a few hours,” it added.
A weather warning for thunderstorms has been issued for England and parts of Wales on Sunday.
The Met Office yellow warning will be in force from 12pm to 8pm and covers hundreds of miles from Milton Keynes in the south, Norwich in the East, Liverpool in the North West and York in the North.
It also covers Birmingham, Manchester, Hull and Nottingham, as well as areas of northeastern Wales, and could bring between 20mm and 30mm of rain in just a few hours.
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“Slow-moving heavy showers and thunderstorms,” will risk difficult driving conditions, homes and businesses being flooded, and lightning strikes, the Met Office said.
This could cause road closures and delays on public transport, the forecaster added.
Image: The Met Office weather warning area on 26 May. Pic: Met Office
Disruptive weather could add to weekend of busy travel
The transport network has already been hit by millions taking to the roads over the bank holiday weekend – and planned rail engineering works.
A Network Rail project has reduced services on the West Coast Main Line due to work around Crewe and Carlisle.
Trains are also being affected by track renewals between Carstairs and Lanark in Scotland, with significant changes to services on the Great Eastern Main Line because of work to build a new station at Beaulieu Park to the east of Chelmsford.
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The worst travel day of the weekend was Friday, however, when the start of the long weekend coincided with the half-term break for many schools.
Trains were forced to run at reduced speed between Birmingham New Street and Wolverhampton that day after thieves tried to steal signalling cables.
Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, London Northwestern Railway, Transport for Wales and West Midlands Railway passengers suffered delays until the damaged wires were repaired, Network Rail said.
Aviation analytics company Cirium said Friday was the busiest day of the year for UK airports since October 2019, with more than 3,150 departing flights.
Around 8,486 flights were scheduled to take to the skies between Saturday and Monday, with the most popular destinations for UK departures being Dublin, Amsterdam, Palma, Alicante and Malaga.
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Further showers likely on Bank Holiday Monday
Sky News weather producer Joanna Robinson said of the weekend’s conditions: “Rain will turn increasingly patchy on Sunday as it moves northwards, with heavy showers developing from the south. They’ll bring the risk of hail and thunder, with localised flooding possible.
“Bank Holiday Monday will bring further showers, some thundery, but western parts will turn drier later on.
“It’s worth keeping an eye on the forecast, as short-notice thunderstorm warnings may be issued on Sunday and Monday.
“Daytime temperatures will be around average, but it should feel warm in any sunshine.”
Met Office forecaster Craig Snell added: “Overall, it’s a pretty mixed picture, Saturday’s probably the best of the bunch, but there will still be some sunshine around on Sunday and Monday, but we’ll certainly be dodging downpours.
“Watch out for some thunderstorms especially across parts of northern and central England and northeast Wales too.”
Yellow weather warnings for thunderstorms and rain have been issued by the Met Office for across the UK after the hottest days of the year so far.
Four yellow thunderstorm warnings are in place from 12pm to 9pm on Monday and cover parts of Scotland, Northern Ireland, much of southern England and the Midlands and most of Wales.
Forecasters have warned the heavy downpours bring the increased risk for flash-flooding and may cause disruption to motorists on the roads and disrupt bus and rail services.
A yellow weather warning for rain has also been issued, covering southern parts of England and Wales until 9am on Monday.
Image: The Met Office has issued yellow weather warnings for thunderstorms and rain across much of the UK
The forecast follows a weekend of scorching temperatures and heavy rainfall.
A temperature of 32C was recorded at Kew Gardens in southwest London on Sunday and much of the UK was hotter than Monaco and the French Riviera where temperatures languished in the low 20s.
However, temperatures fell just short of this year’s record high of 32.2C which was reached on Saturday in Chertsey, Surrey.
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1:02
Guardsmen faint under blazing sun
A total of 28.6mm of rain fell in Charlwood, Surrey, on Sunday afternoon, which is almost half the average for the whole month of June.
Met Office meteorologist Dan Stroud said potentially a month’s worth of rain could fall within a short period.
He said: “On Monday, we’re expecting a fine and hot start, temperatures rising fairly quickly during the course of the morning under strong early summer sunshine and that’s likely to spark a few thundery showers.
“Parts of Wales and England will see 30mm of rain in an hour, 60 to 80mm in some spots.
“North parts of Northern Ireland, southwest Scotland and the Highlands could see 20 to 30mm of rain in an hour during the thunderstorms, and 40 to 50mm in some spots.
“Potentially we are looking at a month’s worth of rain falling.
“The highest temperatures will be around Birmingham and in Wales.
“It will widely be 24C to 28C on Monday, with some spots sitting at the 30C to 32C mark.
“It will be warmer than Monaco, where it has hit 24.7C on Sunday and is expected to be 22 to 24C on Monday.”
Image: There is a chance of flash flooding in places, the Met Office says. File pic
A heat-health alert for hot weather remains in place until 9am on Tuesday.
The five regions of England under an amber alert – when the heat is likely to impact the wider population, not just the most vulnerable – are:
• West Midlands • East Midlands • East of England • South East • South West
A further yellow alert – when the weather is likely to impact vulnerable groups such as those with underlying health conditions, or the elderly – is in place for:
• North East • North West • Yorkshire and Humber • London
The alert, issued by the UK Health Security Agency and the Met Office, covers England and provides warnings of hot weather which might impact the health of members of the public – and is designed to assist healthcare workers who are managing periods of “extreme temperatures”.
Slightly cooler temperatures are on the way from Tuesday onwards, with Thursday and Friday in the mid-high 20s, Mr Stroud added.
He said: “We are likely to see the hot weather continue although high pressure is starting to build in.
“That’s going to kill off the showers and moving into next week the temperature will dip slightly to the mid to high 20s.”
Travel disruption is expected today for parts of England and Wales that find themselves under a yellow thunderstorm warning.
The Met Office says delays to train services are likely, while driving conditions could be treacherous.
Flooding is possible, with up to 80mm of rain tipped to fall in three hours in some places, and there’s a risk of damage to buildings.
The warning covers parts of England stretching from Devon to north of Stoke-on-Trent, and spans much of Wales, including Cardiff.
It lasts from 2pm today until 2am on Tuesday.
Get the five-day forecast where you are
The Met Office warns:
• Driving conditions are likely to be affected by spray, standing water, hail and gusty winds, leading to longer journey times by car and bus • Some flooding of a few homes and businesses likely, leading to some damage to buildings or structures • Delays to some train services are likely • Probably some damage to a few buildings and structures from either lightning strikes or gusty winds • Some short term loss of power and other services is likely
Met Office spokesperson Oli Claydon said the conditions should clear by the weekend, but said there could be an unsettled few days beyond the timescale of the thunderstorm warning.
He explained: “The main factor leading our weather in the next few days and indeed through the week is an area of low pressure that’s coming to the west of the UK.
“And it sits there through the week, very slowly moving eastward.
“From that area of low pressure we’ll get a number of fronts that are sort of spinning off it, as well as the thunderstorms which are being pushed up from the south.
“We’ve also got a cold front that’s moving eastward off of that low pressure, bringing further rain as well.”
Read more: What happens during a drought – and how can you help? Why 40C is deadlier in the UK than it is in other countries
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23:52
The Climate Show with Tom Heap
With summer officially over, the conditions represent a stark change from the prolonged dry conditions seen during recent months.
The Met Office confirmed last week that England had just experienced its joint hottest summer on record, with temperatures having climbed above 40C for the first time.
Britons have been warned that future summers are likely to be longer and drier because of climate change.
Watch the Daily Climate Show at 3.30pm Monday to Friday, and The Climate Show with Tom Heap on Saturday and Sunday at 3.30pm and 7.30pm.
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