Weather warning for thunder and heavy rain
A WEATHER warning has been issued for South Wales today with thundery showers and downpours expected.
The Met Office has issued a yellow warning from 5pm today until 8pm tomorrow, for scattered thunderstorms and intense downpours.
This is despite a summer heatwave being announced with temperatures expected to reach 28°C in some parts of Wales.
The Met Office’s chief forecaster said: “Southwest England looks like it will be first to see scattered thunderstorms, the threat then expanding north-eastwards through the course of the evening.
“There is relatively low confidence in the areas more at risk of intense downpours. Some places will miss them altogether but where they do occur, there is the potential for locally 20 to 30mm of rain within an hour.
“This may result in surface water flooding, particularly should these amounts fall across urban areas.”
There might also be frequent lightning which could cause disruption to power networks. There may also be hail.
Tomorrow, scattered thunderstorms and locally intense flooding will move across Wales as the day progresses.
Meteorologist Dr Michael de Villiers, of The Weather Channel, said: “Showers and thunderstorms will move across the south-west late on Tuesday, spreading towards the northeast overnight. It will be a muggy night with temperatures in the high teens.
“The Spanish Plume will bring showery rain and thundery conditions on and off through Wednesday. It will be very warm or hot and humid with temperatures in the high 20s over the east but turning fresher from the west with temperatures in the low 20s.”
But there’s good news for the rest of the summer with forecasters predicting the UK could enjoy higher than average temperatures until September.
The Met Office’s official forecast said: “The chances of a very hot summer are increased compared to normal, although relatively low overall. There is a shift in likelihood towards warmer-than-average conditions. For July-September, above-average temperatures are more probable than belowaverage.”