UK weather: Met Office issues thunderstorm warning across northern England following intense heatwave

The warning, which stretches from Nottingham to areas north of Newcastle, will be in effect from 3pm on Saturday until 4am on Sunday.

The alert comes after temperatures climbed to 32.2°C in Kew, west London, on Thursday (June 19), with some parts of the country possibly reaching an isolated high of 34°C by Saturday. However, the hot and humid conditions are set to give way to heavy rain, lightning, hail, and strong winds in the north.

The Met Office said the most intense storms could bring “frequent lightning, large hail and gusty winds”, along with the risk of surface flooding.

“There are scattered thunderstorms coming through,” said Met Office spokeswoman Nicola Maxey. “Some of the rain could be quite intense, and frequent lightning, hail, gusty winds and some heavy downpours, which we haven’t seen for a while.”

Maxey warned that dry ground across much of the UK could make flooding more likely: “Some of the ground is quite hard at the moment, and when you get heavy rain hitting hard ground, it can cause surface water issues. You might find surface water on the roads, drains finding it difficult to cope and a small chance of homes being flooded.”

She added that some regions may meet official heatwave criteria, which is defined as three consecutive days above a threshold temperature - between 25°C and 28°C - depending on location. “We have a number of sites which have reached two days, so we’re waiting to see what happens,” she said. “Today is going to be another warm day, so the possibility is there. At the moment, there’s one site that has reached three days, and that’s in Suffolk.”

The heat is expected to peak in eastern and southeastern areas, with a cooler front moving in from the west. “Tomorrow, temperatures may continue to go up a little for the east and south-east area of the country, we might see them creep up to 33°C, or even an isolated 34°C, but we are going to see that change. In the west, tomorrow we should start to see more of this cloud come in, and we have a fresher air mass pushing in across the country,” Maxey added.

A nationwide amber heat-health alert remains in place until 9am on Monday, issued by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). It warns of “significant impacts” on healthcare services and a higher risk of illness and death, particularly for older adults and those with pre-existing health conditions.

The last comparable event was in 2022, when the UK experienced record-breaking temperatures above 40°C, resulting in 320 heat-related hospital admissions.