UK braced for thunderstorms with risk of flood damage

Yellow weather warnings have been extended to much of the UK as thunderstorms threaten to cause flooding and disruption this weekend.

The Met Office has issued four yellow weather warnings for heavy rain and thunderstorms, with fast water risking a danger to life in some areas.

Warnings for south-west England, Northern Ireland and Scotland have been put in place alongside one already issued for large parts of northern, eastern and southern England, and will be in place from 6pm on Saturday to 9pm on Sunday.

The office says there is a slight chance of power cuts and a loss of other services to some homes and businesses, as well as flooding, building damage, travel disruption and road closures.

There is also a small chance of fast-flowing or deep floodwater causing danger to life for parts of the country including Cornwall and south-west Wales, central and east England.

Some places could see up to 75mm of rain in just a few hours and heavy showers are expected to continue until Wednesday.

The Environment Agency has also put in place 27 flood alerts for the next five days, with surface water flooding impacts possible across much of England on Saturday and isolated river flooding impacts possible albeit unexpected.

The agency said impacts were possible across parts of south-west England from Sunday until Monday.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has issued 16 flood alerts for most of the country.

This follows the amber weather warning which was issued for parts of the UK up until 11am on Saturday morning warning of dangerous thunderstorms.

Andy Page, the Met Office’s chief meteorologist, said: “The intense rainfall could lead to surface water flooding as well as frequent lightning and hail too.

“The situation is evolving, and warnings may be changed or added.

“This weekend is expected to be busy on the roads as more schools in England and Wales break up for the summer holidays, so it’s important people keep up-to-date with the very latest forecast.

“There will be spells of more pleasant weather in parts of the UK through the weekend, with some sunny spells in between systems as they move through.”

In south-west England on Saturday, some areas could see up to 50mm of rain in just a few hours, and up to 75mm for some areas while in central and east England, up to 30mm of rain could fall in less than an hour and scattered heavy showers and thunderstorms may develop across Saturday afternoon.

In Northern Ireland, from Derry down to Tyrone, scattered showers will turn heavier with the chance of a few thunderstorms and up to 20mm of rain in an hour in some places.

Showers are expected to ease towards the evening.

Scotland will see areas of heavy rain and isolated thunderstorms arriving from the south during Saturday afternoon.

Some places will see persistent rain building up particularly on south-east facing areas of high ground, and up to 75mm of rain could fall in just a few hours.

Despite the rain, temperatures will remain in the high 20Cs across the weekend before dropping slightly towards the beginning of next week.

Published: 19/07/2025 by Radio NewsHub