A yellow thunderstorm warning came into force at 3pm on Tuesday as much of England braced for lightning, hail, gusty winds and bursts of heavy rain after a searing start to the week. The alert covered the east Midlands, eastern England, London and southeast England, northwest England, southwest England, the west Midlands, and Yorkshire and Humber, and it was due to be lifted at 10pm.
The Met Office said isolated but intense thunderstorms were forecast for parts of England on Tuesday, with some areas set to see up to 30mm of rain in less than an hour. That forecast landed after Britons sweltered through a tropical night on Monday evening, and after the hottest spring temperature record was broken at Kew Gardens with 34.8C at the end of the Bank Holiday.
The warning sat on top of a broader heatwave that had already pushed temperatures to dangerous levels across the country. The Met Office said parts of southern England and Wales could reach 36C on Tuesday, and it also said the hottest May temperature record could be broken again the same day. The combination of extreme heat and fast-moving storms left little room for comfort, and little margin for transport, power and outdoor plans.
There was already disruption on the rail network, with train services to and from London Waterloo affected after a report of smoke on the tracks. The thunderstorm alert added another layer of risk for commuters and holiday travelers, especially in the areas covered by the warning where the heaviest rain and strongest winds were expected to arrive quickly and then move on just as fast.
The tension in the forecast was plain: the country was being asked to prepare for both extremes at once. The heat had already rewritten records at Kew Gardens, and the afternoon warning suggested the next test was not just whether temperatures would climb again, but whether the storms would hit hard enough to disrupt travel, flood roads and catch people out before the warning expired at 10pm.
