UK weather: Bank Holiday weekend sunshine to descend into thunderstorms and 'quite torrential' rain
Chance of flooding, lightning strikes, hail and strong winds
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Your support makes all the difference.Sunny skies are forecast to give way to thunderstorms and torrential rain across England and Wales during the bank holiday weekend - although Scotland is expected to remain bathed in sunshine.
Yellow warnings are in place for large parts of England and Wales throughout Saturday and Sunday, with a chance of flooding, lightning strikes, hail and strong winds
“There is generally a bit of a north-south split,” Marco Petagna, forecaster at the Met Office told The Independent.
“Scotland and Northern Ireland will be dry with some sunshine”
England and Wales will see “some very warm sunshine”, he said, “but also some heavy showers which could be thundery — there is a rainfall warning out for southern England and Wales right through today and tomorrow”.
The most intense storms are expected to happen on Saturday night and throughout Sunday, he said, with heavy downpours starting on the south coast before heading north, reaching as far as East Anglia, the Midlands and Lancashire.
Areas hit by thunderstorms could have 20-30mm of rain in one hour, he said.
Forecasters have warned the rain could affect drivers over the holiday weekend, adding to disruption from engineering works and industrial action.
Reduced timetables are in effect on services by operator Northern on Saturday, with the RMT union striking over the role of train guards.
Network Rail issued a warning over services to and from Birmingham New Street, with no trains stopping at Swindon and bus replacements between Oxenholme and Glasgow Central and Edinburgh due to rail improvements.
Mr Petagna said temperatures would be warm throughout the bank holiday, reaching 25C or 26C in parts on Saturday, 28C or 29C on Sunday, and possibly 30C on Monday in some areas. This is short of the record for this time of year, which was set in 1944 at 32.8C.
Monday will be a better day overall, with the showers and storms receding, he said. There was an increasing chance of low misty cloud in north east England.
Press Association contributed to this report
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