The UK weather heatwave thunderstorms mix continued into Tuesday, with thunderstorms forecast in some parts and a yellow warning in Northern Ireland until 21:00. Pershore in Worcestershire and Cavendish in Suffolk had already hit three consecutive days of heatwave threshold temperatures by Monday.
Met Office and England alerts
Amber and yellow heat health alerts were in place across much of England until 09:00 BST Wednesday, while temperatures were expected to rise to more than 30C in some areas. More parts of southern and eastern England were expected to reach heatwave criteria on Tuesday, extending the hot spell into its final day.
A cold front was expected to move southwards across the Midlands and into south-east England during Tuesday. It was unlikely to bring any meaningful rainfall, and some places in the far south-east, including London, Essex, Kent and Surrey, were unlikely to receive any rain at all.
Northern Ireland and flash flooding
The Met Office issued a yellow thunderstorm warning for parts of Northern Ireland on Tuesday, running until 21:00. Up to 30mm of rain in an hour or two was possible there, along with strong winds and the chance of hail.
Any heavy downpour carried a risk of flash flooding. The scorched ground, dry grass and soil were likely to lead to pooling and runoff, so short bursts of rain would struggle to soak in.
Low pressure that had recently brought rainfall to Scotland, Northern Ireland and parts of northern England was expected to bring scattered showers and thunderstorms on Tuesday and into Wednesday. The UK had experienced one of its driest and hottest stretches of weather in its history, and August was likely to bring more of the same. That leaves the main question for people in southern and eastern England: which areas will actually reach heatwave criteria on Tuesday, if the rain stays patchy and brief.
