Heavy showers, hail and lightning are predicted to strike the UK a few days after the warmest spring equinox in over 50 years.
Heavy rain was on some parts of the country on Saturday afternoon, and experts said the highway worked to clean up the floodwaters while a portion of Yorkshire's M18 was closed.
A shower is expected to be a cloudy start to follow Sunday and east rains and sunny spells in the northwest and southeast, Met Office said. In most parts of the UK, temperatures average at over 15C in London, 12C in Birmingham and 11c in Manchester.
The Met Office said: “This afternoon, intense showers have developed in the eastern part of England, with hail and lightning mixed in. Heavy, thunder-like showers continue in parts of the London and the East Midlands, with 10-15mm of rain seen within an hour.”
The UK experienced the warmest spring ball day, with 21.3C recorded in West London and Celze in Surrey from Thursday, 1972.
“We've been working hard to get the better of our customers,” said Jonathan Vautrey, meteorologist at Met Office. “It's rare to feel such a violent storm at this time this year.
“We've reached over 20°C in the last few days, and today we've reached a high of 18.5c.
“That kind of heat we're running around at the moment really helps stimulate some of these thunderstorms and it's attracting a lot of moisture in this kind of low pressure system arriving all over the UK.”
Vautrey added that the climate crisis is pushing temperatures to new levels. “We are constantly seeing warmer temperatures earlier this year compared to normal locations.
“This kind of intense summer storm will be increasingly happening at more times this year.
Flood warnings from the Environment Agency, including Henry, Salisbury and Hertfordshire, remain in 20 regions of the country.
The Met Office told travelers to “be careful,” saying “there could be localized flooding at the location.”
