The Met Office has issued an amber warning for “very heavy showers and thunderstorms” this evening (Saturday). It's been upgraded from an earlier yellow warning across parts of the country.
The new amber warning is in place across parts of Wales, the north west of England and the West Midlands. The warning runs from 5.45pm to 9pm.
It states that “flooding of homes and businesses is likely and could happen quickly”, and “fast flowing or deep floodwater is likely, causing danger to life”. It comes as a number of areas across the south east of England hit 30C on Saturday, with yellow thunderstorm warnings in place for much of the country over the weekend, reports PA.
A yellow warning for thunder is currently in place for Sunday from midday to 9pm for Wales, Northern Ireland and most of western and central England and Scotland. Parts of east and northern Scotland are likely to avoid the most extreme conditions.
Dan Stroud, meteorologist for the Met Office, said: “On Sunday there will be a little bit more cloud, temperatures down a smidgen, but still 28C or 29C, sparking off a few showers and thunderstorm warnings. Early next week will be a continuation of hot weather.
"Monday there will be thunder, showers, but then the weather will try and settle down on Tuesday and mid-week. But it will maintain this well-above-average temperature. Most of the UK will meet heatwave criteria.”
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has issued an amber alert for hot weather until 9am on Tuesday in the West Midlands, East Midlands, east of England, South East and South West. It means the impact of the heat is “likely to be felt across the whole health service… and the wider population, not just the most vulnerable”.
A further yellow alert, which is less serious and warns that there may be some disruption to services due to weather conditions, is in place for the North East, North West and Yorkshire and Humber regions of England, as well as London.
