UK weather – Brits to bask in 28C scorcher after being battered by thunderstorm

BRITS can expect to bask in temperatures hitting 28C on Tuesday but before that large parts of the UK will be battered by thunderstorms.

The Met Office has a yellow severe weather warning in place this evening with heavy showers causing localised flooding and possibly bringing hail and lightning.

The warning covers all of Northern Ireland and stretches as far east as Newcastle and down the coast to The Wash.

Most of Wales is also covered as well.

The warning was issued at 1pm and is in place until 10pm tonight.

The forecaster is predicting that the heavy showers and thunderstorms will move north as the evening wears on.

Some areas could see as much as 20mm of rainfall in just one hour, the Met Office said.

Travel on the roads in some areas are likely to be disrupted with driving affected by spray, flooding and the possibility of hail.

Trains and buses could also be affected.

Homes and businesses could be flooded and suffer power cuts.

Parts of the UK also suffered thunderstorms on Sunday night.

A statement issued yesterday said: “Although the locations affected by thunderstorms remains uncertain, a few places may experience a combination of heavy rain, frequent lightning and hail during Sunday night”.

“Should thunderstorms develop, they are likely to move north from the south coast during Sunday evening into parts of south Wales, southern England and East Anglia overnight before gradually weakening during Monday morning.”

The storms are expected to fizzle out overnight, making way for a dry and mild night for most places although southern areas could see some foggy patches.

Things are expected to definitely take a turn for the better on Tuesday with the Met Office predicting it will be the warmest day of the year so far.

South-east England and East Anglia will see the best of the weather with temperatures possibly hitting 28C, way higher than the currently high this year of 23.6C.

Most areas will see a hot, dry, sunny day and temperatures in Scotland could reach 20C.

Only the western fringes of Wales, Scotland and England will see cooler temperatures and possibly some heavy showers at times.

Temperatures are expected to cool as the working week continues although there will still be bright sunshine.

In south-east England and East Anglia are expected to see temperatures around the mid-to-low twenties.

More thunderstorms could also be on their way although these will mainly be overnight.

Bookies are now offering odds of 11/10 that this May will be the hottest on record.

Alex Apati of Ladbrokes said: "With scorching temperatures still to come over the next couple of weeks, odds have once again been slashed on this going down as the hottest May ever."