After the hottest June day for 40 years, thunderstorms hit south-east England on Thursday morning.
Southern England basked in record temperatures on Wednesday. The mercury peaking at 34.5C at Heathrow airport, while northern England and southern Scotland experienced torrential downpours, lightning and hail.
After a muggy start on Thursday morning, however, it was the turn of people in south-east England to shelter from the rain as thunderstorms hit areas stretching from the Isle of Wight to East Anglia. The thundery showers are expected to be short-lived, moving east over the course of the day.
The Environment Agency had nine “be prepared” flood alerts in force in south-east England on Thursday, and the Met Office issued “be aware” yellow warnings for south-east England, East Midlands, eastern England, north-east England and Yorkshire and Humber. It said that places where heavy showers and thunderstorms occurred faced “a risk of sudden localised flooding of homes and businesses as well as disruption to power supplies due to lightning strikes.”
Temperatures were well down on Wednesday’s highs, and the rain will herald cooler, fresher conditions, although the mercury will remain in the mid-20s in parts of the south-east.
The lower temperatures and a change in wind direction are likely to reduce air pollution, which experts said had reached worrying levels and posed a risk to people’s health. The environmental research group at King’s College said, however, that “re-circulation of London and the south-east’s own emissions” coupled with warm weather could still see moderate ozone in the capital on Thursday.
The increased cloud has brought UV levels down, but there is no relief for hayfever sufferers as the pollen count remains high in Northern Ireland, Wales and most of England.
Wednesday’s temperature high was the hottest June day since 1976, when 35.6C was recorded in Southampton on 28 June. It was also the first time temperatures had reached 30C on five consecutive June days since 1995. People were urged to look out for the most vulnerable and stay out of the sun during the hottest parts of the day.
Three people died after getting in trouble while swimming in the hot weather. Roads melted and fears of tracks buckling led to cancellations and speed restrictions on a number of train lines.
At Royal Ascot, the dress code in the royal enclosure was relaxed for the first time in the event’s history, with men permitted to remove their jackets.
The hot summer of 1976 led to Britain suffering severe drought during which people forced to queue to use standpipes. It was also the year the minister for drought, Denis Howell, infamously suggested people share baths with a friend.
