Met Office issues amber thunderstorm warning for parts of eastern England
An amber weather warning for severe thunderstorms has been issued by the Met Office advising of the risk of “intense rainfall frequent lightning, hail and gusty winds”.
The warning has been issued for parts of East Anglia and eastern parts of East Sussex and Kent to last between 8pm on Friday until 5am on Saturday.
The Met Office warns that the storms could lead to road flooding, difficult driving conditions, power cuts and flooding of homes and businesses.
Yellow thunderstorm warnings are also in place for much of southern and south-western England and Wales between Friday afternoon and Saturday morning.
Met Office chief meteorologist, Steve Ramsdale, said: “We are watching developments over northern France closely as thunderstorms develop in the warm, humid air over the continent.
“These thunderstorms are then expected to move into the south-east of England and East Anglia tonight (Friday night) bringing very frequent lightning, hail, and intense downpours of rain with gusty winds.
“The heavy rainfall could lead to surface water flooding, especially in urban areas. An amber severe weather warning has been issued for parts of the South East and East Anglia, where 30-50mm of rain could fall in a short period of time whilst the strong winds, hail and lightning could bring different impacts such as disruption to power supplies.
“Yellow thunderstorm warnings are also in place for large parts of southern England and Wales.
“While the warnings cover the areas of the country most at risk of seeing thunderstorms, not everyone within a warning area will experience a thunderstorm.
“For many, it will remain dry much of the time.”
A further yellow thunderstorm warning is in place stretching from eastern and southern Scotland, to northern and south-western England and Wales from midnight to 6pm on Saturday.
RAC breakdown spokeswoman Alice Simpson said: “Amber weather warnings must be taken seriously by drivers.
“Strong winds increase the chance of trees and powerlines falling and this combined with torrential rain over a short period can make driving much more challenging.
“Anyone not confident driving in the conditions may wish to postpone their journeys until the stormy weather passes.”
Katharine Smith, flood duty manager at the Environment Agency, said: “Forecast heavy rain and thunderstorms today mean there is a risk of significant and localised surface water flooding impacts in parts of England, including the East and South East on Friday with impacts probable into early Saturday.
“Environment Agency teams have ensured rivers and watercourses are clear ahead of the storms and stand ready to support local authorities in their response to surface water flooding.
“We urge people not to drive through flood water as just 30cm of flowing water is enough to move your car.
“People should check their flood risk, sign up for free flood warnings and keep up to date with the latest situation by searching ‘check my flood risk’, and follow @EnvAgency on X for the latest flood updates.”
A Met Office spokesman said that temperatures were expected to peak on Friday with parts of eastern England expected to reach up to 29C with temperatures possibly staying as high as 16C, before cooler temperatures will arrive by Sunday.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has issued its first yellow heat-health alert of the year, running until 8am on Sunday in the east of England, East Midlands, London, and the south east.
Under UKHSA and the Met Office’s Weather-Health alerting system, a yellow alert means there could be an increased use of healthcare services by vulnerable people.
It may lead to an increase in risk to health for individuals aged over 65 or those with pre-existing health conditions, including respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.
