The Met Office has issued several weather warnings across the UK
The Met Office has issued several weather warnings as thunderstorms are set to hit the UK. One weather warning is amber, which means torrential rain with thunderstorms in place is expected. This does not affect Merseyside and is in place for East of England and London and South East England from 4am tomorrow until 11am tomorrow.
Merseyside has been covered by a yellow-weather warning for tomorrow, July 19. It is in place for 21 hours, from midnight until 9pm tomorrow evening. While some parts of the UK will enjoy spells of warm sunshine this weekend, the main risk will be that of heavy downpours and thunderstorms.
While some areas may see a temporary lull in the rain, any sunshine that breaks through could reignite thunderstorm development. The Met Office said the yellow “severe” weather warning could bring with it “heavy rain, with some thunderstorms”, which may lead to disruption in places on Friday night and through much of Saturday.
The weather agency said people can expect spray and sudden flooding that could lead to difficult driving conditions and some road closures. Where flooding or lightning strikes occur, there is a chance of delays and some cancellations to train and bus services.
Power cuts might occur and other services to some homes and businesses could be lost. Flooding of homes and businesses could happen quickly, with damage to some buildings from floodwater, lightning strikes, hail or strong winds
Further details from the Met Office adds: “Areas of heavy rain with embedded thunderstorms will move north-westwards across a large swathe of central and eastern England through Friday night into Saturday. Rain will likely be torrential in places, bringing 20-30 mm in less than an hour, with 60-90 mm in 2-3 hours possible in a few places.
“Whilst more widespread heavy rain will gradually clear northwestwards during Saturday, additional scattered heavy showers and thunderstorms may develop in its wake during Saturday afternoon and early evening, before eventually decaying later.”
Hour-by-hour forecast for Liverpool tomorrow (12am-9pm)
- 12am – 10% chance of rain, 19C
- 1am – 10% chance of rain, 18C
- 2am – 30% chance of rain, 18C
- 3am – 30% chance of rain, 17C
- 4am – 30% chance of rain, 17C
- 5am – 40% chance of rain, 17C
- 6am – 30% chance of rain, 17C
- 7am – 30% chance of rain, 17C
- 8am – 20% chance of rain, 18C
- 9am – 30% chance of rain, 18C
- 10am – 40% chance of rain, 19C
- 11am – 60% chance of rain, 19C
- 12pm – 70% chance of rain, 19C
- 1pm – 80% chance of rain, 19C
- 2pm – 70% chance of rain, 20C
- 3pm – 70% chance of rain, 20C
- 4pm – 60% chance of rain, 20C
- 5pm – 50% chance of rain, 20C
- 6pm – 50% chance of rain, 20C
- 7pm – 50% chance of rain, 19C
- 8pm – 50% chance of rain, 19C
- 9pm – 40% chance of rain, 19C
The Met Office forecast for tomorrow says: “Widely cloudy with rain continuing to spread northwards. Frequent torrential downpours and more prolonged periods of rain bring the risk of thunderstorms and hail. Temperatures suppressed beneath the cloud. Maximum temperature 23 °C.”
In its outlook for Sunday to Tuesday, it says: “Remaining unsettled. Further heavy showers continue to bring the risk of thunder and hail throughout the period. Warm and humid in brighter spells, but temperatures suppressed beneath cloudy skies.”
Met Office Chief Meteorologist, Andy Page, said: “Intense rainfall will impact parts of the UK as thunderstorms move in from France. A range of severe weather warnings have been issued, including an Amber warning covering southeast England and London. The intense rainfall could lead to surface water flooding as well as frequent lightning and hail too.
“The situation is evolving, and warnings may be changed or added. This weekend is expected to be busy on the roads as more schools in England and Wales break up for the summer holidays, so it’s important people keep up-to-date with the very latest forecast. There will be spells of more pleasant weather in parts of the UK through the weekend, with some sunny spells in between systems as they move through.”
