The Met Office has issued a thunderstorm warning for the whole of Wales on Sunday marking a change to the current heatwave. Where the storms will hit is notoriously difficult to forecast which is why there is such a large warning area.
The yellow alert is in place from midnight on Saturday until midnight on Sunday and says "heavy showers and thunderstorms" are likely to develop across parts of England and Wales during Sunday with longer spells of thundery rain in places. It adds: "Whilst many areas will see at least some rain most will see only relatively small amounts. However some places could see 30mm in an hour and 60mm in six hours with the potential for frequent lightning, strong winds, and hail. Where this occurs there is likely to be some disruption.
"While there is a high likelihood that thunderstorms will develop over England and Wales there remains a large amount of uncertainty in exactly where these develop. This uncertainty is likely to remain even up to short lead times."
The Met Office says that from Friday afternoon there is a hint of an upcoming change in weather type is likely to affect western parts of Northern Ireland at first with thundery showers likely and a possibility of some heavy bursts of rain with around 25mm of rain possibly falling within an hour in some spots. The forecast adds: "Whilst there is a chance of this risk extending into parts of Wales and perhaps the southwest of England on Friday afternoon the majority of these places will remain dry though cloudier than recently. The risk of more showers and perhaps some thunder does increase in these areas overnight and into Saturday however. There is then a trend to more showers and thunderstorms through the weekend".
Met Office deputy chief meteorologist Steven Keates said: “Over the coming days we’ll be transitioning to a more unsettled regime for the UK though temperatures will remain high and it’ll feel very humid for many. Heavy showers and thunderstorms are likely to become more frequent through the weekend with the potential for associated hail, lightning, and some gusty winds. While the focus of thundery showers on Friday afternoon will be Northern Ireland that risk spreads more widely across western and southern areas of the UK on Saturday before pushing further north on Sunday. As in many of these situations these showers can be hit or miss with some places avoiding them whilst other areas nearby may see some very wet conditions. There’s an ongoing likelihood of warnings being issued in the coming days so keep an eye on the weather forecast for the latest outlook.”
A hosepipe ban is set to come in across Kent and Sussex due to a record demand for drinking water, South East Water bosses said on Friday. Areas of the region have been left with little or no water this week amid the hot weather, forcing schools to shut and residents to get drinking water from bottled water stations. A plea to use only essential water has stretched from Haywards Heath in West Sussex to Whitstable in Kent. The temporary ban on hosepipes and sprinklers will come in on June 26. South East Water said despite providing an extra 120m litres of water a day, demand in June has broken records, including from the Covid lockdown heatwave. There are no plans for any such measures in Wales at present.
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