The Met Office has warned Londoners to expect flash flooding as thunderstorms are due to hit the capital on Wednesday evening.
The forecaster has issued a yellow alert from 11pm on Wednesday to 6am on Thursday for thunderstorms across the south of England and Wales.
Trains and buses could be cancelled or delayed where there is flooding or lightning strikes and there is a small chance homes and businesses could be flooded or damaged by the stormy conditions.
The Met Office posted on X: “With higher temperatures this week there is a risk we could see some active thunderstorms in the south on Wednesday night
“Lightning with the risk of hail moving northwestwards across southern England into Wales during the early hours on Thursday morning.”
With higher temperatures this week there is a risk we could see some active thunderstorms in the south on Wednesday night
— Met Office (@metoffice) April 30, 2024
Lightning with the risk of hail moving northwestwards across southern England into Wales during the early hours on Thursday morning ⚡ pic.twitter.com/FJf5HNA0Qq
Despite the alert, temperatures are still expected to reach 18C on Wednesday and Thursday in the capital, with warm conditions set to stay for the rest of the week.
London is set to remain cloudy until Saturday when there could be around eight hours of sunny weather through the morning and afternoon.
The UK had an unusually wet April and temperatures were unseasonably cold during the second half of the month, the Met Office said.
Amy Bokota, a senior meteorologist, previously said that April had definitely been "wetter than average for the UK as a whole", leaving many areas of the UK "quite dull so far for the time of year".
Grey skies and rain have made April feel unusually cold and followed on from a wetter than average March, the Met Office added.
