UK: Yellow weather warning is issued for thunderstorms

• Hail and high winds rattled windows in East Anglia and London on Friday morning.
• Forecasters warned of power outages, train cancellations, and road closures due to torrential rain.

Thunderstorms that started releasing floods on Thursday have been under a yellow notice from the Met Office.

The majority of northern England, the Midlands, and the South East had intense downpours early that morning. Hail and high winds rattled windows in East Anglia and London.

In some regions, the sheer amount of rainfall threatened to overwhelm infrastructure, prompting forecasters to issue warnings of power outages, train cancellations, and road closures.

Flash floods have started to hit towns like Gravesend, Kent, where the local drainage system couldn’t keep up and the roads were covered in puddles as deep as some cars’ undercarriages.

Drivers across the nation were warned to be on the lookout for flash floods that was strong enough to endanger homes and businesses, as well as “spray and unexpected flooding.”

With the exception of the West Midlands, the majority of the interior regions between London and Newcastle are covered by the Met’s notice, while flooding has been reported further south.

On Thursday morning, the storms that produced the most rain were concentrated in Cambridgeshire, South Yorkshire, and West Yorkshire. King’s Lynn, Boston, Sheffield, and Wakefield saw rainfall rates of 30 millimeters per hour.

The warning will be in effect until at least 1:00 PM, when the weather formations will begin to fan out throughout England.

Over most of northern England and Suffolk, heavy rain is expected to continue until the afternoon.

The rest of the week is set to be “dominated” by rain and wind, the Met warned, but temperatures will remain “very high.”

A “big region of low pressure” from the Atlantic, according to meteorologist Alex Deakin, will bring “bands of showery rain throughout the following five days, with the isobars often compressing together, producing spells of gusty winds.”

It will be warmer than average during the day and especially warmer than average over the south at night, he continued.

There will occasionally be sunny spells between these weather fronts, and while the sun is out, it will feel rather mild.

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