UK weather: Met Office warns thunderstorms 'could cause danger to life' as heatwave causes travel chaos - as it happened
Record temperatures, lightning, flash flooding and large hailstones were all predicted
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Your support makes all the difference.The Met Office warned heavy thunderstorms could cause danger to life as well as sudden flooding and powercuts.
It issued an amber alert for parts of England – a step up from yellow – with intense storms looking set to bring the British heatwave to an end.
Torrential downpours are possible, with as much as 30mm of rainfall in one hour and 60mm in three hours, while large hail, frequent lightning and strong, gusty winds will be additional hazards, forecasters warned.
Those in the areas covered by the warnings were told to expect flooding of homes and businesses, which could happen quickly, with damage to some buildings from floodwater.
“Fast flowing or deep floodwater is likely, causing danger to life,” the Met Office said of the areas covered by the amber warning.
Delays or cancellations on transport, difficult driving conditions and power cuts are also possibilities.
Thursday saw the highest temperature recorded in the UK since 2015, with Faversham in Kent hitting 35.3C.
Temperatures were predicted to soar even further on Friday but the Met Office said provisional figures indicated the highest was 34.7C at Tibenham Airfield in Norfolk.
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A mix of toxic air, extreme highs, emissions from the continent and a lack of cloud cover caused a “high” air pollution alert to be issued for London on Thursday.
Meanwhile authorities said the heatwave was causing “winter conditions” in parts of the NHS, while nursing unions warned that many of their members were dizzy and exhausted.
Fire brigades also called for a ban on barbecues in parks and drivers were urged not to throw rubbish following a string of grassland fires in recent weeks.
And passengers on the Eurotunnel endured five-hour delays as air conditioned units failed while commuters on London’s Underground travelled in temperatures above the legal limit for transporting livestock.
As northern Europe swelters in a prolonged heatwave, scientists have warned climate change is making such heat extremes more likely.
Additional reporting by agencies
Today could beat Thursday to be the hottest day of the year.
What would need to happen for this to be the hottest summer on record, Joe Sommerlad asks and then answers.
Eastern England has seen an average of just 2mm of rain so far this month, and only 11mm since the start of June.
Sweltering temperatures and weeks of clear skies have left it the driest region in England this summer, new figures show.
Rainfall from July 1 to July 24 was only 4 per cent of the long-term average, while it was 17 per cent for the whole of June.
And between June 20 and July 3, average rainfall was zero across the entire region.
The figures, from the Environment Agency, show just how the heatwave is continuing to hurt all parts of England.
Even north-west England, the wettest region so far this month, has seen only 26 per cent of its long-term average rainfall for July.
Central and south-east England have both had only 11 per cent of their average total.
England as a whole had 9mm of rainfall between 1 July and 24 July: 15 per cent of the long-term average.
This compares with a figure of 163 per cent for the whole of July 2017.
With scattered thunderstorms forecast across much of the eastern half of England over the next 24 hours, some areas could be treated to their first substantial rainfall this summer.
The period used by the Environment Agency to calculate the long-term average is 1961 to 1990.
The Met Office has issued a yellow severe weather warning for thunderstorms.
It says heavy thunderstorms are possible and cautions that homes and businesses could flood quickly, with a chance of cancellations to train and bus services and power cuts where flooding or lightning strikes occur.
A yellow warning for rain and wind has also been issued for the southwest of the UK.
MPs have warned heat related deaths could treble by 2050 unless the government takes action to tackle the public health emergency caused by extreme temperatures.
Is this the new normal?
Here is The Independent's science correspondent, Josh Gabbatis, on whether we can expect more heatwaves in the future.
Tonight will see another natural phenomenon in the form of a blood moon, which will be the longest lunar eclipse this century.
Here's Andrew Griffin on how to see the tonight's eclipse.
Some respite is expected on Sunday, with wet and windy weather predicted.
The Met Office has issued an amber weather warning parts of the East Midlands and east England between 2pm and 8pm this evening as thunderstorms approach.
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