UK weather: Met Office warns torrential downpours and thunderstorms could lead to flooding as holiday travel chaos continues - as it happened

Follow the latest updates as thousands of holidaymakers suffer travel disruption due to extreme weather

UK weather: The latest Met Office forecast

Heavy thunderstorms and torrential rain marked the end of the UK heatwave, with the Met Office warning they could cause danger to life, sudden flooding and power cuts.

Thursday saw the highest temperature recorded in the UK since 2015, with the mercury in Faversham hitting 35.3C (95.5F).

While forecasts earlier in the week suggested Friday could see the record for the hottest July day broken, the hottest it got was 34.7C at Tibenham Airfield in Norfolk.

Yellow warnings were in place for most of England into the early hours of Saturday, and in north-east Scotland until 2pm.

Torrential downpours were forecast, with as much as 30mm of rainfall in one hour and 60mm in three hours, while large hail, frequent lightning and strong, gusty winds will be additional hazards.

Parts of Northern Ireland were hit with more than a month's worth of rainfall in just a few hours on Saturday afternoon, with Belfast International Airport recording 88.2mm of rain. The average for the month of July is 81.2mm.

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While some will have welcomed the rain and the cooler temperatures, those keen to catch a glimpse of the blood moon, the longest lunar eclipse of the 21st century, will have been disappointed.

The cloud cover meant the rare celestial event was not visible to many from Hampshire and Wiltshire in the south and south west, to Hull in east Yorkshire, Liverpool in the north west and Dublin in Ireland.

Meanwhile, police forces have been called following concerns for people’s welfare at rivers and a lake.

Thames Valley Police said a man’s body was recovered from the Jubilee River in Slough, adding that his death is not being treated as suspicious.

Warwickshire Police said emergency services personnel searching for a 17-year-old boy who disappeared after getting into difficulty in a quarry lake in Bishops Itchington, near Leamington Spa, have recovered a body.

Essex Police said the body of a teenager who went missing near Clacton Pier on Thursday evening has been found.

Bedfordshire are also looking for a man who got into difficulties in the river Great Ouse on Friday afternoon.

Lightning flashes over Humber estuary near Hull as clouds obscure a view of the blood moon, the longest lunar eclipse of the century which sees Earth’s natural satellite turn blood red (Danny Lawson/PA)

Elsewhere, cross-Channel rail operator Eurotunnel cancelled thousands of tickets after “extreme temperatures” caused major disruption to services.

On UK trains, passengers were urged to avoid travelling on London North Eastern Railway (LNER) on Friday after lightning damaged the signalling system.

Train firm Northern advised passengers not to travel in the Yorkshire area due to the same issue.

On the roads, motorists were warned of lightning, flash flooding and large hailstones.

A mix of toxic air, extreme highs, emissions from the continent and a lack of cloud cover caused a “high” air pollution alert to be issued for London.

Elsewhere, authorities said the heatwave was causing “winter conditions” in parts of the NHS, while many nurses were said to be dizzy and exhausted.

Additional reporting by agencies

[28 July 2018 19:03 · Kristin Hugo]

The heavy rain is expected to move from Northern Ireland into western Scotland this evening. A yellow warning has been issued for Central, Tayside & Fife, Lothian Borders and Strathclyde, with the possibility of flooding of roads, homes and businesses up until around midnight.

Accumulations of 15-25mm are expected quite widely within a 6 hour period, with a few locations in the west possibly seeing around 35mm. Hourly accumulations could be in the 10-15mm range locally.

[28 July 2018 19:07 · Kristin Hugo]

Meanwhile people around the UK have been posting pictures of double rainbows

[28 July 2018 19:15 · Kristin Hugo]

Some more double rainbows from Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.

[28 July 2018 19:41 · Kristin Hugo]

Ryanair has apologised for further flight cancellations and delays at Stansted Airport today, which it blames on the knock on effect of thunderstorms last night and air traffic control staff shortages.

Affected customers have been notified by email and SMS text message and advised of their options of a refund or free move to the next available flight.  Ryanair sincerely apologise for these weather and ATC disruptions which are entirely beyond our control.

Passengers have complained of "utter chaos" ruining their holidays.

[28 July 2018 21:02 · Kristin Hugo]

A yellow weather warning for rain and wind in the southeast England and Wales on Sunday between 3am and 2pm.

The Met Office says we should expect flooding of roads and the possibility of short term loss of power or other services.

Those who are enjoying a spot of camping are warned that "damage to tents or other temporary structures is possible."

While some events this weekend have been cancelled, the Offa's Dyke Festival in Knighton, Wales, is going ahead as planned. Splat the plague rat!

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[28 July 2018 21:07 · Kristin Hugo]

Today was the first day this month that temperatures anywhere in the UK did not reach 25C, according to the Met Office.

The highest temperature recorded was a meagre 24.0C, at Cavendish, Suffolk, and Weybourne, Norfolk.

[28 July 2018 22:04 · Kristin Hugo]

Here's the latest forecast for Sunday - it's going to be wet and windy.

That's all for the liveblog today. There will undoubtedly be more weather news tomorrow.