UK weather forecast: Britain to be lashed with torrential downpours, thunder and hail

No part of the UK is expected to escape torrential rain on Monday, with heavy, blustery showers and storms expected to continue into the rest of the week.

A low pressure system that has been steadily gaining speed as it travels north through the Atlantic is expected to take charge of Britain’s skies, resulting in lashings of heavy rain across the morning commute for many, with the drenching covering the entirety of the British Isles by Monday evening as it slowly creeps up on the south and east of England.

The rain will be accompanied by strong winds, with speeds in some areas of Scotland reaching highs of almost 40mph.

And the deluge is not expected to let up as the week continues, building on the wet spell that struck the UK at the weekend and led to weather warnings and flooding.

On Tuesday and Wednesday patchy but lively storms, possibly featuring thunder and hail, will strike across the nation with the west of the country being the worst affected, according to Met Office projections.

Meanwhile, thick cloud and rainfall is expected to continue to develop into Thursday, with occasional patches of sunshine.

The Met Office’s Helen Roberts said: “It’s rather a soggy start to the working week especially across northern and western parts of the country – a very wet commute on Monday morning and there will be a lot of surface water around on the roads.

“That rain will gradually push its way eastwards throughout the day. Central and southeastern parts of England [will experience] the drier weather for longer but even there it will be raining by the end of the day with temperatures somewhat suppressed underneath all that cloud and rain.

“That will continue to journey eastwards through Monday evening with clearer skies pushing in from the northwest behind but also quite frequent and blustery showers as well – some of those will be really very heavy indeed with some torrential downpours, thunder, lightning and hail mixed in.”

But temperatures throughout are expected to remain typical for the time of year, with the mercury expected to settle at highs of around 15 degrees during the middle of the day all week.

It comes after surface water flooding in East Anglia disrupted trains and left some roads impassable on Sunday.

Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service said it had been “inundated” with 999 calls about “widespread flooding”, while on social media drivers shared photos and videos of traffic ploughing through deep pools of water gathering on roads, including the A47 near Norwich.

According to the Met Office, Cromer on the Norfolk coast saw the highest total rainfall in the past 12 hours with 46.4mm.

Ellen Isaac, 26, from Wroxham in Norfolk, said she had been cut off from her home by local flooding.

“The conditions are awful at the minute, all the main roads have points where they are flooded right across. The more rural roads are completely blocked,” she said.

“I needed to pick up my prescription and then couldn’t get back home due to the flooding. I live in Wroxham, but I’m currently stopped at a friend’s house.

“I’ll try again later before it gets dark but I don’t really want to get stuck too late.”

Additional reporting by PA