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As it happenedended

UK weather warning: ‘Plume of thunderstorms’ moves into England as flooding possible

Follow events as they happened

Liam James,Conrad Duncan,Zoe Tidman
Thursday 17 June 2021 12:25 EDT
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UK weather: The latest Met Office forecast

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Large parts of the UK were under yellow weather warnings as a “plume of thunderstorms” moved into the country from across the English Channel.

Forecasters have predicted parts of England could see flooding and power cuts over the next few days amid the bad weather, which has seen weather warnings put in place for southeast and central England throughout most of Thursday.

A Met Office spokesperson said parts of East Anglia, the Midlands and the South East could be drenched with up to 50mm of rain in just two hours on Thursday, and up to 70mm on Friday.

“The storms will most likely be coming in on Thursday afternoon and lasting into the evening,” they said.

It came after forecasters said there was a possibility that Wednesday would be the hottest day of the year but the sun did not deliver.

Storms cause disruption at Kent beach

Stormy weather has already caused disruption at a popular beach in Kent, after a lightning strike triggered a power cut at a pumping station and wastewater was diverted to stop it flooding local properties.

Thanet Council warned people not to enter the area of beach below the high water mark between Margate Main Sands and Joss Bay.

Southern Water apologised for the disruption, saying lightning had damanged their site at Margate last night.

“Heavily diluted wastewater was released via the emergency outfall into #PalmBay and #MargateSands in order to protect local homes and properties from internal flooding,” the company tweeted.

Southern Water said on Thursday afternoon repairs had finished and a clean-up was underway.

Additional reporting by PA

Zoe Tidman17 June 2021 14:34

Heavy showers in southeast England

The Met Office has shared radar imagery showing heavy showers that have hit southeast England today:

Zoe Tidman17 June 2021 15:36

What will happen tomorrow?

People in Wales and northern England can expect to see cloudy and breezy weather on Friday, while those in central and southern England have been warned to brace for heavy downpours.

There are also weather warnings in place for thunderstorms:

Zoe Tidman17 June 2021 16:58

And for the football...

England’s much-anticipated Euro 2020 clash with Scotland at Wembley Stadium on Friday evening could be hit with bands of “heavy thundery showers”, forecasters said.

The Met Office has predicted a 90 per cent chance of rain in the area for kick-off at 8pm.

PA

Zoe Tidman17 June 2021 17:15

That is all from us for today. Thanks for following.

Zoe Tidman17 June 2021 17:25

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