WEEKEND WIPEOUT
Flash floods and power cuts expected tomorrow as severe thunderstorm warnings spread across the UK
Brits are gearing up for a miserable weekend of weather as the Met Office issues thunderstorm warnings for most of England tomorrow.
Revellers are soaking up the last few precious rays before fears of flash flooding, power losses and lightning strikes take hold from Exeter to Newcastle.
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On Saturday alone, up to 40mm of rain could hit parts of Northern Ireland and South West England over 24 hours, the Met Office predicts.
Yellow warnings - predicting "heavy showers and thunderstorms" - are in place across most of central England from 12pm to 10pm tomorrow.
And, while there are not any warnings in place for Sunday, the downpours are unlikely to let up, with a band of rain sweeping from west to east.
Met Office meteorologist Simon Partridge said 40mm of rain would hit the northern Pennines on Sunday alone, with Hull, Norwich, Newcastle, and Aberdeen the worst affected.
Mr Partridge added: ";Friday is looking fairly dry and we could see 24 or 25C which will probably be around the London area.
"It could be fairly unsettled with some rain on Saturday, with the driest day being Friday.
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"The east and south east will remain fairly dry on Saturday, while in the west it will be quite a wet affair.
"Sunday could be wet in some places and we might need some rainfall warnings.
"It does look as if the Midlands and eastern areas could have a pretty wet Sunday - but there's also a lot of uncertainty in it."
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Even though heavy rain is predicted, temperatures are still expected to soar.
The mercury will hit 20C in northern areas, and London could see 25C Sunday.
And the much-needed warmth will continue into the week.
Met Office meteorologist Alex Deakin said: "There are signs of drier and sunnier weather ahead, coming next week."
He explained that a "high pressure front" is sweeping across the country, which "may well dominate for much of next week".
Mr Deakin added: "It will be drier, sunnier and warmer - and as it's August there's still some power left in the sun so it will feel a fair bit warmer next week."
It follows reports that this summer is already one of the most miserable for a decade, statistics reveal.
Mr Partridge said the City of London has had 117 per cent of its usual August rainfall already.
He added that 60mm of rain fell on the capital up to August 17 compared with 51mm usually seen over the entire month.
Northern Ireland has had 90mm of rain - 90 per cent of its 97mm average for the month.
East Anglia and north-east England have been the driest areas, having only had 43 per cent of their average August rainfall so far at 24mm and 30mm respectively.
Localised heavy rain and hail has already caused "significant problems" for harvests, according to the National Farmers Union (NFU).
A spokesperson for the union said this year's harvest was delayed due to cold spring temperatures, but its too early to say how much profits will be impacted and whether consumers could see a rise in food prices.
They said: "The localised heavy rain and hail has caused significant problems in certain areas.
"It's a mixed picture because for many areas they just haven't had many clear dry days in a row to harvest, so things have been a bit 'stop-start' with harvesting.
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"Where they have been harvesting, grain has often had to be dried because the better weather hasn't lasted long enough to get moisture levels down to where they need to be.
"The problems will grow if the unsettled weather continues because it will start to impact on the quality of the grain if it goes on too long, especially for crops like milling wheat."
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