Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

UK weather: Thunderstorm warnings remain in place as drivers stranded by heavy rain and flash flooding on M25

'Frequent lightning, gusty winds' to come with risk of storms as warnings continue

Kate Ng
Friday 14 August 2020 08:55 BST
Comments
UK weather: The latest Met Office forecast

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Yellow thunderstorm warnings issued by the Met Office remain in place throughout most of England and all of Wales as heavy rain and hail caused flash flooding on roads and railways on Thursday night.

The alerts will stay in place until Monday, with forecasters warning of the potential for flooding and damage to buildings from lightning and hail.

Drivers found themselves stuck on the M25 for hours due to flash flooding as a deluge of rain fell in southern England on Thursday.

In Kent, 19 people were evacuated from a train that became stuck between West Malling and Borough Green after a landslide, according to British Transport Police.

On Friday, weather conditions will be split between the north and the south, with dry and sometimes sunny weather in the north.

But in the south, there is an ongoing risk of heavy rain and thundery downpours. The forecast for Saturday remains similar, with some of the thunderstorms moving into central parts of the country.

Met Office chief meteorologist Frank Saunders said: “Up until Monday, thunderstorm warnings cover much of England and Wales, with parts of southern England and South Wales seeing the greatest likelihood of impacts.

“The storms will not affect all areas, but there they happen there will be frequent lightning, gusty winds and intense, heavy downpours with 30 to 40 millimetres of rain possible in less than an hour and, in a few unlucky spots, a small chance of 60mm falling in a short period.

“With the continuing hot weather, large swathes of the UK continue to be at risk from thunderstorms, and potentially the impacts from heavy rain, into the early part of next week.”

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