UK weather latest: Thunderstorms warning remains in place after parts of south-east see 1,000 lightning strikes in an hour

Lightning strikes lit up parts of the south-east overnight as thunderstorms and torrential rain lashed the UK.

Parts of Britain were hit by a "spectacular electrical storm", with seaside town Eastbourne in East Sussex said to have seen about 1,000 lightning strikes in an hour.

Homes were left without power and roads were flooded in other parts of south-east England while Lenham, Kent, was hit by 42mm of rain in just 60 minutes late on Tuesday.

A yellow weather warning for thunderstorms remains in place for most of the south-east until 9pm on Wednesday, with forecasters warning that further rain, hail and lightning could bring yet more disruption.

However, Met Office meteorologist Oli Claydon told the Standard the most dramatic weather was over for this week.

“We’re keeping the yellow weather warning in place, but the highest impact conditions should have subsided,” he said.

“Thundery showers will push north-eastwards across the country, but things will start to clear up in the south-east. We might even see some sunny spells in and around London by the end of the day on Wednesday.”

The flood-hit community of Wainfleet, Lincolnshire, is within the Met Office's warning area, but Mr Diamond said the town should suffer little more than a few scattered showers.

“It won’t see anything like the intensity of last week, and we don’t expect any more thunderstorms there for now,” he said.

Around 225 Olympic-sized swimming pools' worth of water were pumped out to sea on Monday, following severe flooding in the area.

Nearly 600 homes had to be evacuated in and around Wainfleet after the River Steeping burst its banks on Tuesday, June 11, with residents still unable to return home.

The rest of this week should see increasingly bright conditions, with temperatures reaching 20C to 21C in the South East on Thursday.

“Things will feel notably more pleasant across the UK,” said Mr Diamond, “With London and many parts of the south east enjoying some more sunshine.

“Moving into the weekend there will be some scattered and light showers, particularly in coastal areas of Scotland, but Friday will be a largely dry and bright day in many parts of England, Wales and Northern Ireland.”

The forecaster warned that while temperatures could hit 22C to 23C in the South East on Saturday, more changeable weather will return on Sunday.

“A band of rain will push across from the South West, bringing cooler wetter conditions on Sunday evening.

“We can’t know for sure at this stage how this will develop into next week."