‘Wild’ thunderstorms strike UK as hot weather takes dramatic and terrifying turn

On Jun 10, 2023

Britain’s heatwave has been broken by a series of terrifying “wild” storms.

For the last few days, the entire country has been basking in highs of around 27c and 28c, with some even reaching 30c.

But threats of thunderstorms had been made weeks ago, as Met Office officials told of ominous weather to come.

And it has now arrived.

Social media has been filled with photos and videos of horrific weather taking over the Lancashire and Merseyside areas.

One video taken overlooking Blackpool shows a torrential downpour of rain, with masses of lightning striking.

Another, who videoed a mini stream running down the road he was on, wrote: “Ooh when them #thunderstorms hit 1 minute after walking back from the Supermarket. I am blessed, they are wild!!”

And a third called them “feisty.”

A fourth warned: “#thunderstorms are currently over #Merseyside, in the #UK bringing an end to what has been an amazingly hot day.

“Please take care if out and about.”

This forced the Met Office to warn that the thunderstorms were staying until around 9pm.

Despite the weather weather now arriving, the highest temperature of 2023 so far was recorded in Heathrow, southwest London, after the mercury climbed to 30.5C at 11.47am, the first time the temperature in Britain has exceeded 30C in nearly 10 months.

“Temperatures have reached above 30 degrees Celsius for the first time since 24th August 2022 making today the warmest day of the year so far,” the Met Office tweeted.

And with temperatures soaring, bookies have slashed the odds for this year to see the UK’s hottest summer yet.

Ladbrokes now make it just 4/6 for this summer to be the warmest on record, having been 2/1 earlier this week.

Alex Apati of Ladbrokes said: “It’s looking increasingly likely this summer will go down as a record-breaking scorcher.”

Another warning will also be in place for parts of England, Wales and Scotland from 12pm to 9pm on Sunday.

Parts of the country are also expected to see flash floods and even hail as thunderstorms spread across the country today and tomorrow, despite the climbing temperatures.

James Madden of Exacta Weather said yesterday (Friday, June 9): “Some of these thunderstorms are also likely to trigger some pretty heavy downpours on Sunday, and this will bring the increased risk for some flash-flooding in places, particularly, across some southern and central regions to the west of the country and also into parts of north-west England,” Madden added.

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