London (Parliament Politics Magazine) – A weather alert for thunderstorms and heavy showers is in force across much of southern England and Wales.
The Met Office states damage to buildings as a result of lightning strikes, trouble to public transport and flooding should be anticipated within the affected areas. The yellow notice, which covers all of Wales and south-west England, the Midlands and parts of south-east and northern England, came into effect at 1 am on Saturday and lasts until midnight on Sunday.
Another weather cautioning for rain will come into force on Sunday for Wales and central south-west England. Affected areas could have 50-70mm of rainfall over a few hours, escorted by hail and frequent lightning.
The stormy weather tracks a warm, dry spell. Temperatures surpassed 25C in parts of the Highlands on Wednesday while south-east England struck the same high on Thursday, according to the forecaster.
How long will the wet weather persist in the UK?
The Met Office’s chief meteorologist, Jason Kelly, stated: “The warnings cover the areas of the country most at risk of seeing thunderstorms, but not everyone within a warning area will experience a thunderstorm. For many much of the time it will remain dry.”
The Met Office deputy chief meteorologist, Dan Harris, expressed the wet weather was expected to continue into next week, and the forecaster was weighing giving another warning for Monday.
“The area of persistent and at times heavy rain that we are hoping to have developed by the end of Sunday will most likely persist for some parts of southern UK through at least the first part of Monday, before beginning to clear eastwards,” he stated. By this time, however, confidence falls nattily in terms of both its exact location and rainfall amounts.”