Parts of England battered by hail, rain and thunder amid yellow warning

The warning is in place until 10pm on Tuesday and covers southern England, East Anglia, and parts of the Midlands.

People walk through Centenary Square in Birmingham during rain showers in March (Jacob King/PA) (PA Wire)

Parts of England have been battered by hailstorms among a deluge of rain and thunder as a yellow weather warning remains in place for the UK until 10pm.

Basingstoke was hit by an onslaught of hail on Tuesday, with one resident describing his worry over the storm damaging his car – while Somerset experienced a “different scale” of rain.

The thunderstorm warning – covering southern England, East Anglia, and parts of the Midlands – is in force alongside a flood warning for England.

Basingstoke resident George Dibley, who works in public affairs, told the PA news agency: “It was crazy to see and hear, it sounded like someone was knocking on our window.”

The 24-year-old added: “We got worried at one point that if the hail got any bigger it might damage our car, but thankfully it only lasted a few minutes.”

Meanwhile, a stream flooded a garden in Somerset after heavy rain.

Val Coots, from Bathealton, posted videos on Twitter and told PA: “The stream breaks its banks quite regularly after prolonged heavy rain, usually a couple of times per year.

“Today has been on a different scale though, really unbelievable, the stream rose about a foot above the level of the garden and whole parts either side were completely submerged. 

“You can see from one of the tweets what it looks like normally. The house is much higher, so we aren’t in any danger.”

Also in Somerset, Eleanor Wicks told PA she had to find a way around a flooded footbridge in Bruton.

The 16-year-old, from Frome, said: “It was very shocking because it had been raining for about three solid hours and we had to try to find a way around it, through a flooded footbridge.

“Our car was on the other side so we had to go all the way around over a flooded footpath bridge and through another bit of flood to get to the car.”

Met Office meteorologist Clare Nasir said: “Showers over the next few days could be heavy with the risk of thunder and hail.

“In fact, through Tuesday evening there is a warning for thunderstorms across the southeast.

“So you could run into some heavy bursts through the next few hours through Tuesday evening before that risk eases.

“For the time being we are seeing some lively conditions across the south as well as the east. It will ease.”

She added that the risk of thunder and hail persists through Wednesday and Thursday.

Turning to Friday, Ms Nasir said: “The chance of some heavy showers in the South elsewhere mostly dry, the cloud coming and going, but some brighter skies coming through setting the scene for Saturday.”

Met Office spokesperson Stephen Dixon said some parts of the yellow warning area could see more than 40 millimetres of rain over a three-hour period.

He said: “On Wednesday, we’ve got low pressure approaching the north west of Scotland, which is going to introduce some more wet weather, particularly in the west of Scotland and Northern Ireland for a time.

“Widespread showers are possible on Thursday and some of the showers again could be quite heavy in nature for a time.

“Generally, a drier day for many on Friday, albeit largely quite cloudy for many.”