UK weather: Met Office issues flood warning as thunder and hail batter parts of Britain

More thunder and rain expected in several parts as UK continues to see unsettled weather

Stuti Mishra
Wednesday 10 May 2023 01:34 EDT
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(Getty)

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Parts of the UK have been hit by hailstorms and thunder as the country continued to experience uncertain weather, with the threat of more to come.

The Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for most of the UK as Basingstoke experienced a deluge of hail, while large parts of the country were lashed by heavy rains and thunderstorms.

Heavy rain also brought flooding to some areas, with Devon and Somerset fire and rescue service receiving calls from people stuck in water.

A flood warning remained in place for several northern and western regions on Wednesday.

Photos and videos posted by residents on social media showed large hailstones falling from the sky.

“I’ve never seen hail that size,” wrote a resident named Sam Middleton-Bray.

Other residents posted videos of lightning and thunder.

The rain cleared overnight in several parts. However, the Met Office forecasted Wednesday to be “a mixture of sunny spells and showers” for most parts of the country, with some areas expected to again get battered by heavy showers and potentially accompanied by hail and thunder.

“On Wednesday, we’ve got low pressure approaching the north-west of Scotland, which is going to introduce some more wet weather, particularly in the west of Scotland and Northern Ireland for a time,” Met Office spokesperson Stephen Dixon said.

“Widespread showers are possible on Thursday and some of the showers again could be quite heavy in nature for a time. Generally, a drier day for many on Friday, albeit largely quite cloudy for many.”

The outlook for Thursday to Saturday also suggested a widely rainy day on Thursday, with some heavy, thundery downpours in places.

Showers are expected to become more restricted to southern areas on Friday, with most places largely dry on Saturday.

Met Office meteorologist Clare Nasir warned that showers over the next few days could be “heavy” with the risk of thunder and hail persisting through Wednesday and Thursday.

“The chance of some heavy showers in the south. Elsewhere mostly dry, the cloud coming and going, but some brighter skies coming through, settling for Saturday.”

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