Thunderstorms lash parts of England as Scotland sees warmest day of year

12 May 2025, 19:43 | Updated: 12 May 2025, 19:54

Nearly two inches of rain fell in an hour as thunderstorms hit parts of England, while Scotland saw its warmest day of the year so far.

Lightning strikes, heavy showers and hail lashed areas in central and southern England on Monday afternoon as a yellow thunderstorm warning issued by the Met Office came into force.

Meanwhile, Auchincruive in South Ayrshire hit 25.4C making it Scotland’s warmest day of 2025 and hotter than Los Angeles in California.

It surpasses the 24.4C recorded in Aboyne in Aberdeenshire on April 30.

Met Office forecaster Ellie Glaisyer said: “We have seen quite a few thunderstorms breaking out this afternoon, mainly across central and southern parts of England, and then moving their way north-westwards over the past couple of hours into parts of Wales.

“One or two just affecting north-western parts of England as well, we’ve seen one or two moving out towards into the Irish Sea as well.”

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Radar imagery shows 40mm to 50mm of rain has fallen in an hour in parts of England, Ms Glaisyer said.

She added: “We’ve seen reports of hail, plenty of lightning strikes as well, all within that warning area.”

The thunderstorm warning is in place until 10pm and heavy showers will push into north-west England and parts of Wales, the Met Office said.

The showers are expected to ease overnight, but there will be some rain and thunder across southern England on Tuesday, forecasters say.

While the chance of showers persists into Tuesday across the south of the UK, much of the UK will however have another bright sunny day, with the highest temperatures in central parts where 23C-25C is likely.

Higher pressure will then dominate again from the north, helping to clear the showers away.

Met Office Deputy Chief Meteorologist Dan Harris said: “Although a few showers are possible over southwest England and South Wales on Wednesday, high pressure will be firmly back in charge bringing settled, dry, and for the vast majority warm and sunny conditions for the remainder of the week."

He added: "The settled weather is expected to continue into the weekend too as high pressure remains centred over the UK, although cloud and early mist will probably become a bit more widespread, this gradually retreating back to coasts through the course of the daytime."