Britain could see the hottest day of the year so far as thunderstorms sweep some parts of the country. Forecasters said temperatures could hit 26C (79F) in the south-east of England on Friday, just beating a high of 25.6C (78F) in Faversham, Kent, on 15 April.
But thunderstorms and heavy rain are expected to continue throughout the day across the region as warm air drifts over from mainland Europe.
The weekend is expected to see a split between north and south with highs of about 21C (70F) in the south-east as breezy, dry weather settles in, while rain and strong winds are expected in the north-west.
Met Office forecaster Simon Partridge said: “If you could draw a line from the Humber down to the Isle of Wight, anywhere south-east of there, a warm plume of air has arrived from the continent.
“As a result a large number of thunderstorms are moving over the south-east. They will continue through the morning and on until about 4pm.”
He said 11.2mm of rain fell in an hour over Hawley in Kent between 6am and 7am on Friday.
As the storms hit the south-east, a band of rain is moving east across north-west parts of the UK. A thin diagonal strip between the two weather systems will remain dry, slowly moving west throughout the day and offering a brief reprieve from the thunder and showers.
