Yorkshire braced for more thunderstorms before heatwave returns

The spectacular lightning and thunderstorms that lit up the night sky across much of the country on Friday night have moved north to Scotland, leaving dry and sunny weather in its wake.

But heavy and frequent showers will return for much of the country but will be at their worst in the north and west of England and Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Temperatures will drop to the lowest that Yorkshire has seen since the recent heatwave arrived, hovering around 20C.

While some will be glad for a break from the sun and some water for the garden, sun-seekers will only need to wait a few days until the heat returns.

A Met Office spokesman said the forecast for Yorkshire would be: “A dry, sunny start to the day, but cloud will increase towards midday. Through the afternoon cloud will continue to thicken with outbreaks of rain spreading from the west later.

“By Wednesday it will start to settle down and the sunshine will come out.

“It certainly won’t be the 37 degree highs that we had last week but I think that is a relief to most people.

“We could start to see temperatures reaching 29 degrees though by the end of the week.”

The highest temperature in the recent heatwave was recorded on Wednesday at 36.7C (98.1F) at Heathrow, breaking the record for a July day, while many other places broke the 30C (86F) mark.

While many bathed in the rare temperatures, others endured struggling train services and heavy traffic as road and train track surfaces began to melt in the heat.