Watch: Lightning lights up night sky as thunderstorms strike Britain
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Lightning lit up the skies over Britain as thunderstorms struck the country early on Sunday.
Videos of the intense storms were widely shared on X, formerly Twitter, after people were awoken by booming thunder.
“Wakes up to London thunderstorms. Sticks phone out of the window to film,” one X user posted. “Slams window shut and hides under the duvet for the rest of the night …. Would not advise.”
“Loving these thunderstorms,” another posted.
The Met Office has said rain and thunderstorms will persist in the southern half of Britain on Sunday as a band of wet weather moved further inland from coastal areas.
Up to 100mm of rain could fall over a short period of time in some areas by Sunday evening.
The forecaster has issued a yellow weather warning for rain, covering almost the whole of southern and central England up to South Yorkshire and all southern Welsh counties, which remains in place until 6pm on Sunday.
It comes after three consecutive days of heavy rain, starting on Thursday, lashed different areas of southern England and Wales.
Met Office deputy chief meteorologist Dan Harris said the wild weather was making it harder to forecast, with “larger uncertainties than average”.
“This is due to a more complex than usual meteorological pattern involving multiple corridors of heavy, locally, thundery rain revolving around a slow-moving area of lower pressure,” he said.
“We are keeping warnings under review, and will look to issue them over the weekend and confidence increases, so please keep up to date with our latest forecasts and warnings.”
The Environment Agency issued 17 flood alerts, meaning flooding is possible, across Devon, Cornwall and the East Midlands as of Saturday evening.
It added that much of southern and central England was at low risk of flooding impacting on properties and causing travel disruption.
Rainfall amounts will vary considerably on Sunday, with some areas seeing 40-60mm of rain and some spots potentially set for up to 80-100mm, with the latter more probable in the southern half of the warning area, the Met Office said.
Some sunshine is likely to develop in the South East, but this will be offset by further slow-moving thunderstorms.
Lengthy sunny and dry spells are still expected further north in a continuation of recent days, but conditions will be turning cloudier and more mild.
The showers will continue to move in a northwesterly direction while spells of heavy rain will affect many central and southern areas.
Cooler, fresher temperatures are widely expected across the country into next week with a generally unsettled outlook, the forecaster added.