THUNDERSTORMS are continuing to affect parts of Britain, with lightning and heavy downpours expected to hit both the morning and evening rush hours.
Torrential rain could cause some localised flooding, and people are being warned of the risk of disruption to power networks from lightning strikes.
Some areas of the UK received more than half a month’s worth of rain in just one hour on Tuesday, as flash floods hit parts of Cornwall and Kent.
Scotland escaped the downpours with a bright start to the day, but forecasters have warned this afternoon will see thundery showers.
Morning all. A dry morning, followed by thundery showers this afternoon and this evening. Here's Gillian with the details. pic.twitter.com/VHijKQAtPc
— BBC Scotland Weather (@BBCScotWeather) July 19, 2017
The heaviest rain recorded by the Met Office on Tuesday was at Reading University, where 1.4in (36mm) of rain fell between 9pm and 10pm.
“Their gauges did not record that much at all,” he said.
Despite these figures, flash floods hit the Cornish coastal village of Coverack, where 50 properties were affected and several people had to be rescued from their homes.
“(Flash floods) can be very, very localised,” said the forecaster.
And Mr Snell said local geography affects whether heavy rain turns into flash floods.
“There are a lot of local factors,” he said, “If it’s more hilly, which is what we saw in Cornwall, water moves quicker.
“The amount of rainfall in Cornwall might not necessarily cause (flash floods) somewhere else.”
Although there is no strict definition of flash flooding, Mr Snell said to qualify there needs to be a large amount of rain falling during a short period of time.
“It needs to be more than 10mm (0.4in) in the hour to start causing some issues on the roads for example,” he said.
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