UK weather: Yellow warning for thunderstorms issued ahead of a possible third heatwave

Thunderstorms are set to hit a large part of eastern England on Sunday, bringing heavy rain, lightning and hail before a potential third heatwave later in the week, forecasters have said.

Between 15 and 25mm (0.6-1 inch) of rain is forecast to fall widely in an area stretching almost to Hull in the north and Princes Risborough to the west, and across eastern England, including all of East Anglia and as far south as the East Sussex and Kent coasts.

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for thunderstorms from 7am to 7pm, saying much of the rain could fall within two or three hours at any given place.

The rainfall will spread east over the region and where there are repeated thunderstorms, as much as 40-60mm (1.6-2.4 inches) could fall, the warning adds.

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A yellow warning means there is a good chance driving conditions will be affected by spray, standing water and/or hail, leading to longer journey times by car and bus, while some trains may be delayed.

Buildings and structures could be damaged by lightning strikes, while flooding may affect homes and businesses and power cuts are possible.

Met Office meteorologist Jonathan Vautrey said a weather front moving across Wales and England first thing "could start to provide some quite intense downpours of rain, particularly heavy around the Humber and Wash regions".

"That will generally move south-eastwards and break into showers as we head throughout the day - some of those could turn thundery with hail and quite intense downpours of rain," he said.

From Tuesday, high pressure coming in from the Azores starts to build widely across the UK, which from midweek onwards should lead to "fewer showers, more sunny spells and also climbing temperatures", he added.

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Temperatures could even reach the low 30Cs by the end of the week, meaning the UK could see a third heatwave this summer, ITV News reported, quoting Marco Petagna, a senior meteorologist at the Met Office.

Mr Petagna said it "looks like we will meet heatwave criteria again by the end of the week", but added it is hard to predict how long the hot weather will last.

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