UK sizzles in the heat with temperatures nudging 30C but storms are on the way

Beaches have been packed in the heatwave
PA Wire

Britons spent the day in the sizzling heat as temperatures reached almost 30C, as forecasters warned of “intense” thunderstorms set to move in.

London reached 29.2C at Heathrow compared to the 29.7C in Teddington, Middlesex on Monday, which is currently still the hottest day of 2021.

Some areas, however, were hotter than top European holiday destinations including Ibiza, St Tropez and Mykonos on Wednesday.

But the hot weather won’t last for long as the Met Office issued yellow warnings of thunderstorms from 6pm, stretching across large parts of England including London and the South East.

It means people could see flooding to homes and businesses, communities becoming “cut off”, power cuts and delays to public transport following heavy rainfall.

Stephen Dixon, a Met Office spokesman, said: “Today will be fine for many with sunshine across England and Wales before an evening of thunderstorms which will last for the next few days.

A narrowboat on the Thames
PA Wire

“There’s a chance some areas in London could get to 30C (86F) today which would make it the hottest day of the year.”

Wales could be as hot as 22C on Wednesday evening, when football fans watch their nation take on Turkey in the Euros.

Areas in central and southern England could reach the high 20s, while Northern Ireland and Scotland, which will see cloud and scattered showers, may hit the high teens.

Summer weather
PA Wire

Mr Dixon continued: “Overnight our weather warnings will come into force, meaning some areas will see intense thunderstorms and torrential rain.

“Parts of south-western England could see up to 30-40mm of rain falling in just a few hours on Thursday, with the warning remaining in place until midnight for large swathes of England.”

Another set of thunderstorms will then move in from Friday morning, Mr Dixon said, with “intense” showers leading to as much as 60mm of rain falling over 12 hours in the worst affected areas.

Someone jumps off a pier
PA Wire

England’s much-anticipated Euro 2020 clash with Scotland at Wembley Stadium on Friday evening could be hit with bands of “heavy thundery showers”, forecasters say.

Mr Dixon said this was due to to a small, low-pressure system moving in from Europe, with warmer surface-level air meeting colder upper air, leading to thunderstorms.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in