UK weather forecast: Thunderstorms to bring month’s worth of rain as flood fears continue

‘The storms are the price we pay for those higher temperatures’

Zamira Rahim
Monday 17 June 2019 08:50 BST
Comments
UK weather: The latest Met Office forecast

Heavy thunderstorms are set to batter part of the UK this week with some parts of the country likely to see a month’s worth of summer rain in 24 hours, forecasters have warned.

Raising fears of further flooding, Met Office forecasters have issued a yellow thunderstorm warning for much of the southeast, East Anglia and parts of the Midlands, running from 6pm on Tuesday until 9pm on Wednesday.

Hundreds of people have already been evacuated due to rising water levels in Lincolnshire.

The coming week will be unsettled, with sunshine and showers forecast for Monday as a low pressure weather system moves towards the UK.

“It will be driest and brightest in the south but there will be frequent showers with a risk of thunder in the northwest,” said Simon Partridge, a meteorologist at the Met Office.

The low pressure system will bring muggy conditions, higher temperatures and storms to much of the country.

Monday will see highs of 22C in southern regions and 17C in the north, just below average June temperatures. But conditions will change on Tuesday as warm and humid weather moves up from the south, where temperatures could reach as high as 26C in some parts.

But conditions wil be cloudy and the warm spell will be accompanied by thundery showers which will develop later on Tuesday.

“There will be prolonged showers,” Mr Partridge said. “So it will be warmer next week but the storms are the price we pay for those [higher] temperatures.”

Met Office forecasters said the storms could bring ”torrential rain, hail and lightning to a few places, with potential disruption to travel and flooding".

“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 spokesperson said. In addition, there is a slight chance that the storms could cause power cuts.

“We’re expecting 15-30mm of rain to fall quite widely,” Mr Partridge said.

Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

“But locally it could be up to 50mm... which is a month’s worth of rain in some parts. We are keeping an eye on places like Lincolnshire because of that.”

Almost 700 homes were evacuated in the Lincolnshire town of Wainfleet on Saturday, after the area was hit with more than two months’ of rain in just two days.

The River Steeping, which the town stands by, burst its banks on Thursday, causing emergency services to scramble to repair the breach. Water levels on the river remain high.

The Environment Agency has issued 13 flood warnings and 23 flood alerts, which remain in place across the Midlands and northeastern regions.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in