Thunderstorms in UK: Met Office forecast when and where lightning will strike in HOURS | Weather | news

The Met Office has introduced a yellow weather warning for thunderstorms tomorrow, July 19, from 1pm to 9pm. The current red and amber extreme heat warnings covering the country will be discontinued at midnight tonight. Temperatures will drop tomorrow but it will still feel very hot for some – with peaks in central London of 26C and 28C. However, this will be a staggering 12C to 14C cooler than today.

The Met Office alert reads: “Loud showers and thunderstorms are expected to develop in central, southern and eastern parts of England on Wednesday afternoon.

“While most locations will only see light amounts of rain, there is a possibility of isolated heavy downpours and lightning.

“Where these occur, some locations can see 20-30mm in one hour and 50mm in three hours.”

It warns that roads can be closed due to flooding and public transport can be affected by lightning strikes.

People also need to prepare for power outages.

The warning itself affects 36 local authorities and regions in the southeast, east and center of the country.

But current Met Office forecasts for individual areas detail how likely storms will be in specific areas, with an estimated time.

The only standout place to see storms as early as tonight is Peterborough, which is currently expected to see 40C by 3pm.

READ MORE: UK weather alert: Heat remains ABOVE 30C overnight as huge storms hit

The localized forecast says there is a chance of storms starting around 10pm.

There is a 50 percent chance of thunderstorms in Islington in Greater London from 6 p.m. tomorrow, before that there will be showers from 3 p.m.

In Saffron Walden, Essex, storms hit 60 per cent between 6pm and 7pm with no rain forecast for the day.

DO NOT MISS:

Further north in Cambridge there is also a 50 per cent chance of thunder and lightning as of 5pm, with rain only starting an hour earlier.

Many surrounding areas may catch a glimpse of the storms, but only heavy rain is forecast at this time.

The UK Weather Service‘s chief meteorologist Jim Dale told Express.co.uk that storms would likely be a “lottery” with no certainty as to which locations will only see heavy rain.