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Wales Online
Wales Online
National
Cathy Owen

More thunderstorms forecast for Wales by the Met Office after 30,000 lightning strikes on Monday

The dramatic thunderstorms that hit parts of Wales on Monday evening are set to return on Tuesday. The morning is starting dry and bright, but the Met Office says that thundery downpours will move in during the afternoon.

The forecasting agency says that an area of low pressure slowly moving across the UK this week, means the weather will remain unsettled. The large area is situated to the southwest of the UK and will slowly track eastwards through the week.

BBC Weather says there were 30,000 lightning strikes in the UK on Monday as the storms moved up from France. There was some localised flooding in parts of Wales and a restaurant in Cardiff had to be evacuated after water started to leak into the building.

Read more : Live updates as heavy thunderstorms hit Wales.

Welsh weather presenter Derek Brockway said on Tuesday morning: "More showers on the way today. Heavy at times with a risk of hail and thunder. Similar tomorrow.

"The reason for the thunderstorms in parts of Wales is low pressure near Ireland. Next few days staying unsettled with sunshine and showers. The showers heavy at times. Risk of hail and thunder and some localised flooding."

Here are when the thunderstorms are most likely in parts of Wales from the Met Office maps:

Cardiff - between 12pm and 4pm

Swansea - between 12pm and 3pm and around 7pm

Bangor - between 3pm and 6pm

Tenby - around 1pm and between 6pm and 9pm

Newport - between 2pm and 5pm

Brecon - between 12pm and 4pm.

The Met Office forecast for Wales on Tuesday (September 6) says: "A dry and bright start with sunny spells. Turning cloudier as showers develop through the afternoon, heavy at times and with a risk of hail and thunder. Gusty winds around showers as well. Maximum temperature 22 °C.

"Showers largely easing through the evening, though a few lingering around coasts overnight. Clear spells and patchy cloud elsewhere with winds easing inland. Remaining rather warm and muggy. Minimum temperature 12 °C."

In the Met Office’s latest week ahead forecast meteorologist Alex Deakin, explains: “We often have one area of high pressure controlling our weather, we've certainly seen that a lot through the summer. But one area of low pressure controlling things for a number of days is fairly unusual.”

During the first half of the week, each day will see a mixture of showers or longer spells of rain interspersed with drier periods. Some thunderstorms are expected, which could bring gusty winds and heavy downpours where they form.

Alex continues: “By the time we get to Thursday, that low pressure is moving in across the UK. The isobars just perhaps starting to open up in places. It could be quite windy across the southwest on Wednesday night for sure, but otherwise, as this low moves in, what we could see is the showers become more slow moving so they last a little longer and they could drop more rain.”

Looking further ahead to the weekend, there are signs that a ridge of higher pressure could form for a time, allowing the weather to settle down. From Sunday onwards there is significant uncertainty in the forecast, as Alex explains: “At the moment Saturday looks like being a largely dry day across the UK. Still a few showers here and there but turning drier.

“However, there's another area of low pressure which is gaining quite a bit of attention. This one is bringing quite a bit of uncertainty into the forecast. It's Hurricane Danielle in the subtropics now, as it drifts northwards it will no longer be a hurricane. But when you've got these highly energetic systems, it does make the forecast more complicated. It brings with it more uncertainty.”

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