GONE IN A FLASH
Heatwave ends (but only for a bit) as storms lash Scotland
SEVERE thunderstorms and flash floods are set to batter Scotland this morning as the scorching summer gives way to heavy rain.
Hail and lightning strikes were due to hit large parts of the country overnight, forecasters warned.
Storms have already lashed much of the East of the country, with spectacular bolts seen illuminating the skies over the Firth of Forth.
It comes after weeks of sizzling sunshine and a heatwave in which temperatures have topped 30C (86F).
But yesterday, the Met Office issued a yellow storm warning for the North-East, with downpours expected to last until the middle of the afternoon today.
Grampian, Central, Tayside, Fife and the Highlands are likely to be worst hit by the wild weather.
A series of flood alerts were also issued last night by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa), for Aberdeen city, Aberdeenshire, Caithness and Sutherland, Speyside, Nairn and Findhorn in Moray.
The Met Office’s Ross Melville said: ‘This weekend will come as a shock to those who have become accustomed to a Mediterranean lifestyle.’
Yesterday and on Thursday, storms lashed the Edinburgh area, the East and North-East and up to 60mm (2.4in) of rain fell in three hours yesterday.
But there was some respite, with sunseekers in Edinburgh basking in temperatures of up to 26C (79F) yesterday.
And people in Glasgow enjoyed heat of 24C (75F), despite heavy cloud cover over the city.
The UK had its hottest day of the year on Thursday, when temperatures reached a peak of 35.1C (95F) in Wisley, Surrey.
The lowest temperature in Britain was 4.8C (40F) recorded in Braemar, Aberdeenshire.
The sunniest place on Thursday was Valley, on the west coast of Anglesey, Wales, with 14.8 hours. South Uist, in the Outer Hebrides, was the wettest place with 16.4mm (0.6in) of rain.
The thunderstorms are being generated by sky-high temperatures south of the Border.
It is believed lightning may have sparked a massive blaze in Ferndown Common in Dorset on Thursday. More than 150 firefighters battled to get the blaze, near a school, under control.
Lightning was also blamed for damaging signalling equipment at York railway station – a key stop between Edinburgh and London – prompting train bosses to warn passengers not to travel on the East Coast main line. Will Lang, chief meteorologist at the Met Office, yesterday warned of the potential impact of even more stormy weather.
He said: ‘While many places will remain dry, thunderstorms could lead to torrential downpours in places with as much as 30mm [1.2in] of rainfall in an hour and 60mm in three hours.
‘Large hail and strong, gusty winds are also likely and combined could lead to difficult driving conditions as a result of spray and sudden flooding.
‘There will be some showers up the western side of the UK.’
Despite the storms, the fine and warm weather is expected to continue until the end of next month. But water is now in ‘significant scarcity’ in several areas, including the North-East, Sepa has revealed.
The quango said the lack of rainfall had decimated stocks in the North-East, north Highlands,
‘Torrential downpours’
the Clyde and Ayrshire areas. It warned it would take a month of ‘exceptional’ rainfall to return levels to near normal but insisted there was no threat to the public water network.
Meanwhile, cross-Channel rail operator Eurotunnel has cancelled thousands of tickets after ‘extreme temperatures’ caused major disruption to services.
The firm stopped people travelling yesterday if they were due to return the same day or today.