Met Office weather forecasters have told millions of Brits to prepare as several amber and yellow weather warnings are in place for serious thunderstorms this weekend
People have been told to consider preparing an “emergency” kit using three household items as thunderstorms are set to ravage the country.
The Met Office has issued a series of thunderstorm warnings covering the next two days, with downpours and lightning strikes set to rain down overnight on Friday. The stormy conditions will also partially douse people’s weekends as they continue into Saturday morning, and potentially ruin others’, going as far as leaving some communities cut off. More than 80 areas are currently under high-risk amber and less dangerous yellow weather alerts for flooding, lightning strikes, and power cuts as the storms descend over hundreds of miles.
The yellow and amber alerts, which cover a massive, nearly 400-mile stretch from the Isle of Wight on the south coast to Newcastle on the northeast coast, state that several inches of rain could fall in just a few hours.
London looks set to be hit hardest, with the Met Office saying in an amber warning that torrential rain could cause “significant surface water flooding during Saturday morning”.
The amber warning states: “Areas of heavy rain with embedded thunderstorms will move northwards during the early hours of Saturday, with torrential downpours in places. Accumulations of 20 to 40mm (0.7 to 1.5 inches) are possible in one hour, and where heavy downpours persist then as much as 70 to 100mm (2.7 to four inches) could accumulate in just a few hours. Significant impacts are possible if this occurs over more urban areas.
“The more widespread heavy rain should clear to the north during Saturday morning, but additional scattered heavy showers and a few thunderstorms could develop during Saturday afternoon and early evening, this risk covered by the much larger Yellow thunderstorm warning.”
The yellow thunderstorm warning adds: “Thundery rain will reach the south of the warning area later Friday before spreading north to affect much of England through Saturday. Rain will likely be locally torrential, bringing 20to 30mm in less than an hour in many places, with 60 to 90mm (3.5 inches) in less than three hours possible in a few places.
“Whilst rain will clear from the south of the area by early Saturday afternoon, further thunderstorms are likely to develop here.”
The massive amount of rain means there is a real danger of flash flooding and power cuts. The Met Office has advised people to check whether they are at danger. The alerts state that, if they are, they should “consider preparing a flood plan” with an “emergency flood kit”.
The agency advises people to consider packing three essential items; a mobile phone power pack, torch, and batteries among “other essential items”.
Areas covered by Met Office’s thunderstorm warnings on Saturday
East Midlands
- Derby
- Derbyshire
- Leicester
- Leicestershire
- Lincolnshire
- Northamptonshire
- Nottingham
- Nottinghamshire
- Rutland
East of England
- Bedford
- Cambridgeshire
- Central Bedfordshire
- Essex
- Hertfordshire
- Luton
- Norfolk
- Peterborough
- Southend-on-Sea
- Suffolk
- Thurrock
London & South East England
- Bracknell Forest
- Brighton and Hove
- Buckinghamshire
- East Sussex
- Greater London
- Hampshire
- Isle of Wight
- Kent
- Medway
- Milton Keynes
- Oxfordshire
- Portsmouth
- Reading
- Slough
- Southampton
- Surrey
- West Berkshire
- West Sussex
- Windsor and Maidenhead
- Wokingham
North East England
- Darlington
- Durham
- Gateshead
- Hartlepool
- Middlesbrough
- Newcastle upon Tyne
- North Tyneside
- Northumberland
- Redcar and Cleveland
- South Tyneside
- Stockton-on-Tees
- Sunderland
North West England
- Blackburn with Darwen
- Cheshire East
- Cheshire West and Chester
- Cumbria
- Greater Manchester
- Halton
- Lancashire
- Merseyside
- Warrington
South West England
- Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole
- Dorset
- Gloucestershire
- Swindon
- Wiltshire
West Midlands
- Herefordshire
- Shropshire
- Staffordshire
- Stoke-on-Trent
- Telford and Wrekin
- Warwickshire
- West Midlands Conurbation
- Worcestershire
Yorkshire & Humber
- East Riding of Yorkshire
- Kingston upon Hull
- North East Lincolnshire
- North Lincolnshire
- North Yorkshire
- South Yorkshire
- West Yorkshire
- York
