THE Met Office has issued “danger to life” warnings as thunderstorms and lightning are set to batter the UK.
The forecaster put out two yellow weather alerts for Friday and Saturday with up to 70mm of rainfall expected within a few hours.
GettyThunderstorms and lightning are set to batter the UK[/caption]
MET OfficeSaturday’s alert covers all of Wales and south-west England, the Midlands and parts of south-east England[/caption]
MET OfficeFriday’s warning covers most of south-west England, parts of Wales, the Midlands and west London[/caption]
The weather service said damage to buildings as a result of lightning strikes, disruption to public transport and flooding should be expected within the affected areas.
Friday’s warning covers most of south-west England, parts of Wales, the Midlands and west London and is in place from 12pm until 8pm.
The second alert is in place all of Saturday from 1am and covers all of Wales and south-west England, the Midlands and parts of south-east England.
The Met Office has warned that hail and frequent lightning could accompany the “thunderstorms and heavy showers”.
Up to 70mm of rain could also fall in the worst affected areas on Saturday.
The stormy weather follows a warm, dry spell as temperatures reached 25C in Inverness on Wednesday and highs of 26 are expected on Thursday, according to the forecaster.
Met Office meteorologist Dan Stroud said: “We are being spoiled by almost summer‘s last hurrah, but there’s a bit of a change coming down the line as we move our way through towards Friday, and especially the weekend.”
A “gentle decline” in temperature is expected over the weekend, with highs of 24C forecast for East Anglia on Saturday followed by low 20s in the area on Sunday, he added.
As of September 17, the UK has seen an average 49.5mm of rainfall this month – which is typical for this time of year, Mr Stroud said.
“Successive bands of rain” and “normal conditions for autumn” are expected next week, he added.
REGIONS AFFECTED
East Midlands
Derbyshire
Leicester
Leicestershire
Northamptonshire
Rutland
East of England
Bedford
Cambridgeshire
Central Bedfordshire
Hertfordshire
Luton
London & South East England
Bracknell Forest
Buckinghamshire
Hampshire
Milton Keynes
Oxfordshire
Reading
Slough
Southampton
Surrey
West Berkshire
Windsor and Maidenhead
Wokingham
North West England
Cheshire East
Cheshire West and Chester
Halton
Merseyside
South West England
Bath and North East Somerset
Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole
Bristol
Cornwall
Devon
Dorset
Gloucestershire
Isles of Scilly
North Somerset
Plymouth
Somerset
South Gloucestershire
Swindon
Torbay
Wiltshire
Wales
Blaenau Gwent
Bridgend
Caerphilly
Cardiff
Carmarthenshire
Ceredigion
Conwy
Denbighshire
Flintshire
Gwynedd
Isle of Anglesey
Merthyr Tydfil
Monmouthshire
Neath Port Talbot
Newport
Pembrokeshire
Powys
Rhondda Cynon Taf
Swansea
Torfaen
Vale of Glamorgan
Wrexham
West Midlands
Herefordshire
Shropshire
Staffordshire
Stoke-on-Trent
Telford and Wrekin
Warwickshire
West Midlands Conurbation
Worcestershire