It's raining! The funniest memes and reactions to the end of the heatwave

The UK’s blistering six-day heatwave has brought delight for some and sent others into sweat overload.

So now rain and thunderstorms have arrived in many areas, more than a few are relieved.

Brits have flocked to social media to share their thoughts on the British summertime returning to normal.

Heatwave comes to an end

The Met Office confirmed that a record dating back to 1961 has been smashed, with temperatures topping 34C for six days in a row up to Wednesday.

St James’s Park in London enjoyed Wednesday’s peak of 34.6C, while on Friday the UK had its hottest August day in 17 years with a high of 38.5C recorded at Faversham in Kent.

Beaches across southern England have been packed all week as sunseekers enjoyed a sweltering start to August - a marked change from the miserable July we experienced.

Now the Met Office has issued yellow storm warnings for much of England, Wales, parts of Northern Ireland and south-west Scotland.

There is a chance of flash flooding, travel disruption and power cuts in those regions, the Met Office said, with lighting strikes causing blackouts in some areas on Wednesday.

It came as torrential rain caused widespread flooding in Scotland.

What social media users think

While some are understandably worried about rain, many Londoners who have been sweating in small flats hit social media with memes to mark the turn in the weather, as thunder rumbled across the capital last night.

“Thunder in North West London,” commented one on Twitter, along with a GIF of a horror movie character uttering “And. Here. We. Go!”

Another remarked: “HALLELUJAH… raaaiiinnn and thunder… I love you”.

One tweeted a panicked GIF urging “everybody stay calm!” with the caption: “The sound of thunder in London.”

Another declared: “JUST HEARD THUNDER AND I’M HERE FOR IT”.

Twitter user Charlotte Hatfield tweeted a video of heavy winds sweeping a deluge of rain through Twickenham in reply to another user who asked: “WHERE IS THE RAIN?”

It prompted many to express shock at how different the weather was across the capital.

Journalist Julia Hartley-Brewer asked: “How on earth did this happen in London when I am also in London and it’s been 30C and dry the entire time...?”

ITV weather presenter Laura Tobin added: “This looks like a video from a hurricane in America!”

Another added: “Welcome to the UK’s monsoon season.”

One Twitter user weighed in from south-west London: “Bizarre weather in Richmond right now - stifling 34 degree heat accompanied by torrential rain, thunder and hail stones the size of gobstoppers.”

Met Office forecaster Greg Dewhurst said of the variable weather: “It’s not often we get temperatures this high over several days, and that is triggering thunderstorms across parts of England and Wales.”

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Thunderstorms and lightning warning as temperatures to top 31C