Thunderstorms in UK may dampen bank holiday weekend

Torrential rain and thunderstorms could wreak havoc with bank holiday travel when a week of warm weather finally gives way to a cooler spell, the Met Office has said.

An unsettled weather front moving through the United Kingdom from south-west England and Wales will bring torrential, thundery downpours across the country. From Saturday a band of sudden, heavy showers will end the hot, dry spell that saw much of Britain bask in high temperatures last week.

A Met Office meteorologist, Dean Hall, said: “The drop in temperatures from Saturday will make the nights a bit more bearable and will help people who have been struggling to get to sleep in the hot temperatures.”

As the band of thundery weather pushes north and east across England up into Scotland, some areas will be at risk of localised flooding. The Met Office has issued yellow weather warnings for a swath of the south of England from Sunday afternoon through to Monday as up to 40mm of rain is expected to fall in some places in the space of an hour.

Hall said: “There could be some travel disruption across the transport network from Sunday afternoon into bank holiday Monday as surface water collects on the roads. The weather at the moment is quite unstable, as warm air and higher temperatures are the perfect ingredients for thunderstorms.”

The Met Office has also said lightning strikes could cause power outages in some parts of England.

Although Monday will not be as warm or pleasant as the past week, by Wednesday a band of high pressure will build up, bringing back warm and dry weather. “By Wednesday temperatures will be back into the low 20s and it will be feeling quite pleasant for schools’ half-term holidays. That would certainly be a good time to get out and about,” Hall told the Guardian.

The outlook towards the end of the week is unsettled.