Flood warnings will be in place across England going into Monday morning after almost half a month’s worth of rain fell in one hour on Sunday.
Thunder and lightning swept across the north throughout the evening, as 35.6mm of rain fell in Woodhouse Mill, near Sheffield between 6pm and 7pm.
In June so far, the UK has averaged 12 days of rain, totalling 77mm, PA Media reported.
Rain and thunderstorms caused the Met Office to issue six flood warnings on Sunday night, with forecaster Marco Petagna warning the weather could get even worse.
“Half a month’s of rain has fallen in one hour in one location, in quite a few spots we’re seeing 15-20mm, even 30mm in an hour,” he said on Sunday night.
“There’s been quite a few storms embedded within that area of northern England, Northern Ireland and one or two in parts of Wales.
“It’s pretty torrential, 25 to 35mm in an hour is certainly going to cause some flooding problems, and there’s still potentially bad conditions to come.”
The rain caused play to be halted in the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston in Birmingham due to the wet weather, and it was reported people had to be rescued from flooding in Yorkshire.
A yellow thunderstorm warning almost entirely covered England and Wales between noon and midnight, and there was also one until 9pm in Northern Ireland.
It warned of heavy showers, the potential for frequent lightning, strong winds and hail – which could cause flooding, travel issues and power cuts.
In northern England and Scotland, a yellow heavy rain warning is in place from 7pm on Sunday until noon on Monday.
There are generally moderate or high UV levels across the UK, despite there being more cloud, while grass and nettle pollen are also very strong, the Met Office said.
Temperatures reached the low 20s – despite the UK being in an area of low pressure.
Sarah Cook of the Environment Agency said: “On Sunday afternoon and into the night, slow-moving heavy showers and thunderstorms could lead to localised surface water flooding across England.
“Environment Agency teams are out on the ground and will support local authorities in responding to surface water flooding.”
The Environment Agency said it believed flooding was possible across the Midlands and parts of Yorkshire and the Humber, and east and south-east England.
PA Media contributed to this report
