Britain braces for floods as Met Office warns of thunderstorms

Thunderstorms and heavy showers are set to rain upon parts of Britain tomorrow, officially ushering in the autumn weather, forecasters say.

The Met Office has issued a yellow thunderstorm, and have warned stormy downpours are likely to hit southwest of England.

The Midlands, the north of England and eastern parts of Wales, are also likely to be battered with heavy rainfall and potential power cuts on Sunday.

Forecasters have said there is a  ‘small chance of flooding and disruption from heavy showers and thunderstorms’ on Sunday.

Between 30mm to 40mm of rain is set to pour down in under an hour in some places, the forecaster says. 

Parts of England and Wales are set to be battered with heavy downpour and thunderstorms  (file image)

The Met Office has issued a yellow thunderstorm for the Midlands, the north of England, the southwest of England, and eastern parts of Wales

They have warned of difficult driving conditions, some road closures, as well as cancellations to some train and bus services.

A Met Office spokesperson added: ‘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 few showers and isolated thunderstorms are expected to develop across parts of southern England on Saturday night,’ the Met Office added.

‘But by Sunday morning there is an increasing risk of more active and organised heavy showers and thunderstorms moving in to, or developing across, parts of southern England.

‘The risk of storms will then steadily transfer broadly northwards through the afternoon and into the early evening.

‘The extent of these thunderstorms is very uncertain, and many places will miss them, but where they do occur, 30 to 40 mm of rain may fall in less than an hour with perhaps over 75 mm in one or two places, leading to a chance of flooding and disruption.

‘Frequent lightning strikes and hail will be additional hazards, most likely across southern and central England.’

However tomorrow’s weather will be vary significantly across Britain, according to Ventusky. 

Thundery weather is expected to hit the Peak District tomorrow, while parts of the country hit temperatures of 30C.

There are also concerns of widespread rain on Monday, with 35mm of rainfall predicted for Yorkshire.

The Met Office has warned the UK is enduring ‘a complex interaction of a number of volatile, small scale weather features’ resulting in unsettled weather this week.

The Met Office has forecast that regions will experience rain whilst other parts will have sunny and muggy weather. 

The forecaster has also warned lightning strikes and hail are likely, with 30mm to 40mm expected to fall in some areas

Over 20mm of rainfall is expected to hit Achnagart in the Scottish Highlands next Thurday. 

The Met Office’s deputy chief meteorologist, Dan Harris, said: ‘The forecast later this weekend and into the early part of next week comes with larger uncertainties than average, due to the complex interaction of a number of volatile, small scale weather features over and around the UK.

‘We are keeping warnings under review, and will look to issue them over this weekend as forecast confidence increases, so please keep up to date with our latest forecasts and warnings.

‘Finally, it’s worth also noting that conditions could briefly turn very warm, or even hot, across parts of the south and east, with a chance of temperatures into the high 20s of Celsius for some, but very much dependent on cloud breaks.’