Met Office issues 30-hour thunderstorm warning for Wales
After a relatively settled period for many the weather is turning more unsettled with thunderstorms across some parts of Wales, the Met Office has warned. As the high pressure which has brought the recent spell of good weather pulls away to the north, it is predicted to turn wetter, particularly for the southern half of the UK.
Friday and the weekend will see heavy showers and thunderstorms develop across southern areas. Yellow warnings for thunderstorms have been issued for both Friday and Saturday. The one on Saturday covers the whole of Wales. The warning for Friday is in place from noon until 8pm, then the one for Saturday starts at 1am and runs out just before midnight. For the latest Welsh news delivered to your inbox sign up to our newsletter
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Met Office chief meteorologist, Neil Armstrong, said: “Thundery downpours are expected to develop in places across the south on Friday afternoon bringing frequent lightning, gusty winds, hail, and spells of heavy rain. The risk of thunderstorms persists into Saturday with potentially longer spells of heavy rain for some along with a continued risk of hail and lightning accompanying the most intense storms, particularly in parts of the Midlands, southern England and east Wales during Saturday afternoon and evening.
“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. We are also expecting these showers to merge into longer spells of heavy rain on Sunday and Monday across some southern and central parts, and once the full details become clearer, we may well issue further severe weather warnings so keep up to date with the latest forecast for your area”
The forecasting agency also says that the change to more unsettled weather will also see a downturn in temperatures, particularly as we go into next week.
Friday's warning
The warning for Friday, which is in place from noon until 8pm says: "A few thundery showers may be present across southern and southeast England early on Friday, but from the middle of the day they are expected to develop more widely within the warning area. Whilst some places will remain dry, where thundery showers do occur, they will bring frequent lightning, gusty winds, potentially some large hail, as well as brief spells of heavy rain. 15-25 mm of rain fall may fall within an hour, with a very small chance of 30-40 mm falling in three hours; the latter most likely across southwest England. Showers will tend to ease and fade during Friday evening."
The areas covered by the weather warning are: Blaenau Gwent; Bridgend; Caerphilly; Cardiff; Carmarthenshire; Ceredigion; Merthyr Tydfil; Monmouthshire; Neath Port Talbot; Newport; Pembrokeshire; Powys; Rhondda Cynon Taf; Swansea; Torfaen; Vale of Glamorgan.
Saturday's warning
Saturday's warning, which is in place from 1am until midnight and covers the whole of Wales, says: "Whilst there is some uncertainty in the details, scattered showers and thunderstorms are likely to develop and spread northwestwards at times later on Friday night and through Saturday. While much of the time it will be dry, and not all places will see these, where they do occur 20-40 mm could fall in less than an hour, with a small chance of isolated accumulations of 50-70 mm over the course of a few hours.
It adds: "In addition, hail and frequent lightning may accompany the most intense storms, especially during Saturday afternoon and evening in parts of the Midlands, southern England and east Wales."
Looking further ahead the Met Office says: "We are expecting a window of drier conditions for most places on Tuesday before wet and windy, ‘autumnal’, weather once again moves across the UK from the North Atlantic."