Yorkshire weather: Met Office issues yellow storm warning on hottest day of year

The meteoroligist said there could be frequent lightning, large hail, strong winds and heavy rain.

Up to 40mm of rain could fall in less than two hours, the forecaster said, as it urged people to consider whether their location is at risk of flash flooding and to prepare accordingly.

The Met Office warning is from 5pm on Saturday until 3am on Sunday, and includes Yorkshire, the Midlands and Wales.

It recorded the hottest day of the year so far with a provisional temperature of 33C in Surrey.

As well as the 33.2C high in Charlwood, temperatures of 26.9C were provisionally recorded in Bute Park in Cardiff and 27.2C in Aviemore in the Highlands, the weather service said on Saturday afternoon.

In an online forecast, Met Office meteorologist Jonathan Vautrey said: “Hot and humid air is being dragged up a little bit from parts of continental Europe, but we also have low pressure out in the Atlantic, and that is driving weather fronts across the UK, providing instability in the air and the perfect conditions to start sparking off some thunderstorms as that hot and humid air rises rapidly.”

As Saturday continues there may be “sharp showers” heading north, accompanied by “a few rumbles of thunder” during daylight hours with “sunny spells” in between, he added.

An official heatwave is recorded when areas reach a certain temperature for three consecutive days, with thresholds varying from 25C to 28C in different parts of the UK.

“Many places” in England and “one or two areas” in Wales, including Cardiff, entered a heatwave following Friday’s highest temperatures, Becky Mitchell, meteorologist at the Met Office, said.

An amber heat-health alert, issued by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) for the first time since September 2023, for all regions in England remains in place over the weekend.

The agency has warned that significant impacts are likely across health and social care services, including an increase in demand, during the alert period.

Sunday will see a day of “sunny spells and showers” with highs of around 27C and 28C, Met Office weather forecaster Dan Stroud said.