Parts of the United Kingdom are under a yellow warning for thunderstorms after the country experienced its hottest day on record this weekend as temperatures reached 32C.
The Met Office forecast showed parts of the UK were set to be battered by torrential rain on Monday as the weather remained hot and humid for many.
The yellow warnings covered large parts of England including London, Oxford, Nottingham, and Manchester. There were also thunderstorm warnings in both Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Thunderstorm warnings are in place from midday until 9pm on Monday.
“On Monday, we’re expecting a fine and hot start, temperatures rising fairly quickly during the course of the morning under strong early summer sunshine and that’s likely to spark a few thundery showers,” Met Office meteorologist Dan Stroud said.
Temperatures are again expected to be close to 30C in some parts while widely the country can experience mercury in the mid-20s.
As the hot and humid temperatures bring downpours, parts of Wales and England can see 30mm of rain in an hour, with 60 to 80mm falling in some spots.
A total of 28.6mm of rain fell in Charlwood, Surrey, on Sunday afternoon, which is almost half the average for the whole month of June.
Forecasters have warned torrential downpours may cause challenging conditions in parts of the country.
Britons could expect a small chance of homes and businesses facing flooding, with “damage to some buildings from floodwater, lightning strikes, hail or strong winds”.
There could also be a chance of “delays and some cancellations to train and bus services” due to the same.
This comes after the country experienced its hottest day on record on Sunday with Kew Gardens recording mercury at 32C and temperatures reaching 30C at Heathrow. Much of the UK was hotter than Monaco and the French Riviera where temperatures languished in the low 20s.
Apart from a yellow alert, the UK Health Security Agency has also issued an amber alert for hot weather until 9am on Tuesday in the West Midlands, East Midlands, east of England, South East and South West.
“We are likely to see the hot weather continue although high pressure is starting to build in,” Mr Stroud said.
“That’s going to kill off the showers and moving into next week the temperature will dip slightly to the mid to high 20s.”
The forecaster says that this week the risk of thundery downpours would continue in some areas and temperatures were likely to remain above average.
This summer in the UK is expected to be hotter than normal, though temperatures aren’t forecasted to break last year’s record-setting levels yet.
Early signs suggested higher-than-average heat was likely to occur in the UK and across Southern Europe for the rest of the month and the beginning of July, according to climate scientists from the Met Office and the bloc’s Earth observation agency Copernicus.
Britain baked in scorching heat last July, with temperatures hitting an unprecedented 40.2C in London and setting off fires across the city.