Met Office issues thunderstorm warning for much of north of England

A warning of thunderstorms and heavy showers has been issued for much of the north of England, despite sunnier weather elsewhere.

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning from 11am to 9pm on Tuesday, covering much of Yorkshire, the East Midlands and parts of north-west and north-east England.

It said lightning could damage a few buildings and structures, with short-term power loss and flooding possible.

Forecasters warned there is a good chance driving conditions “will be affected by spray, standing water and/or hail, leading to longer journey times by car and bus”, and delays to train services are also possible.

The Met Office said showers will develop throughout Tuesday, becoming heavy with some thunderstorms in the afternoon and early evening.

It said some will be slow-moving with lightning, hail and heavy rain, and a few places could see 20-30mm of rain in one hour.

Met Office spokeswoman Nicola Maxey said there will be “quite heavy downpours” in some areas, but other locations within the warning area will have a “dry and sunny day”.

She said: “Not everywhere within that warning area is definitely going to see one of these heavy downpours or a thunderstorm.

“They just bubble up and it’s not really possible to give an exact location for every thunderstorm or every downpour.

“It’s a bit like looking at a pan of water – you know that the whole pan when you’ve got it on the stove is going to get hot, but you don’t know where the bubbles are going to come up when the water boils.”

Much of the rest of the UK is forecast to have dry conditions with sunny spells on Tuesday, with temperatures in London above 20C.

Ms Maxey said there will be a “warming trend” for much of the country as the week goes on, with “plenty of fine, dry weather around for the rest of the week and into the weekend for many”.

Temperatures so far this month have been a few degrees below their seasonal average, affecting small businesses which rely on tourism or high street foot traffic at the start of summer.

The UK experienced the coolest first 10 days of June since 2020, in contrast to the hottest June on record this time last year, when it was as hot as 32.2C in Lincolnshire and Surrey.