Thunderstorms warning as weekend temperatures rise

The Met Office has issued a yellow warning for thunderstorms on Sunday.

Kayakers and paddleboarders enjoy the sunshine at Cullercoats bay in North Tyneside (Owen Humphreys/PA) (PA Wire)

Some across the UK are enjoying the summer sunshine but could soon see lightning, hail and strong winds, forecasters say.

The Met Office has issued a yellow warning for thunderstorms for parts of northern England and Scotland on Sunday from 1pm-9pm.

These could cause  localised flooding. Rainfall will “vary significantly, but some locations could see 30-40mm in 1-2 hours”, according to the forecaster.

Some places could see  hail that is up to 3cm in diameter along with strong, gusty winds.

The Met Office said: “Whilst there remains some uncertainty in whether thunderstorms develop as cooler conditions follow from the west, there is a chance that an organised line of thunderstorms could develop across northern Britain during Sunday afternoon before clearing east into the North Sea during the evening.

“This is more likely to happen across eastern parts of the warning area including northeast England and eastern Scotland.”

It comes as a weekend heat health warning from the UK Health Security Agency and the Met Office covers most of England, which is in place until Monday at 9am.

The warning, which urges people to “watch out for those who might struggle to keep cool in the hot weather”, was issued as temperatures were expected to soar to 32C.

The warning covers London, the South East, South West, East Midlands, West Midlands, east of England, Yorkshire and the Humber.

London is expected to be the hottest part of the UK, with potential highs of 31C or 32C, but temperatures will be in the high 20s for large parts of England.

The blast of hot weather has come as Glastonbury revellers descended on Worthy Farm in Somerset to watch the likes of Sir Elton John and the Arctic Monkeys at the annual festival.

The Met Office said that much of southern, central and eastern England will see a rise in temperatures through the weekend.

Temperatures could peak at 32C in the far southeast on Sunday, and widely into the high 20s elsewhere in the south and east.

Met Office chief meteorologist Matthew Lehnert described the prospect of thunderstorms developing  as “finely balanced”.

He had said: “It’s worth noting the temperatures in the south will remain quite high overnight this weekend, so it’s important to look out for those who may be more vulnerable to heat.”

He added: “There are some marked contrasts in the UK’s weather this weekend, with some potentially impactful thunderstorms developing affecting the northern half of the UK on Sunday, while further south it will become hot.

“For those in the north, there is a chance of thunderstorms developing as we see a change to cooler conditions with a chance that these could become organised with heavy rain, hail, lightning and gusty winds.”