Downpours to continue for UK with risk of flash flooding
Heavy showers and thunderstorms are set to continue across large parts of the UK on Thursday, bringing a risk of flash flooding and travel disruption after a summer largely dominated by high pressure. A Met Office yellow thunderstorm warning covers northern England and north Wales until 10:00 BST, with the wet weather then tracking southwards and eastwards into Wales, the Midlands, East Anglia and southern England, while Scotland and Northern Ireland see lighter, less thundery showers.
Within the warning area, 15-20mm of rain could fall in an hour, with up to 50mm possible over six hours, raising the risk of flash flooding, particularly where ground remains hardened from the prolonged dry spell. Motoring groups have warned of greasy, slippery roads as rain mixes with built-up oil and rubber deposits, urging drivers to slow down and increase following distance. Despite the rain's return, experts say the UK's drought will take sustained rainfall to ease, with impacts unlikely to be clear until winter, while temperatures are set to fall below the August average, with lows of 3-4C possible in parts of Scotland and northern England by Friday night.
- Yellow thunderstorm warning in force for northern England and north Wales
- Flash flooding and slippery roads possible as heavy rain returns
- Drought unlikely to ease soon; temperatures dropping below average
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Heavy rain and thunderstorms are moving across the UK, following a summer that has largely been dry and sunny thanks to persistent high pressure. The Met Office, the UK's national weather service, issues coloured warnings when conditions could be disruptive or dangerous; a yellow warning is the lowest of three tiers, indicating a possibility of some disruption rather than a certainty.
The concern is flash flooding, which happens when rain falls too fast and heavily for the ground and drains to cope, causing sudden, localised flooding rather than the slower rise of rivers bursting their banks. This risk is heightened because the ground has been hardened by the dry summer, making it less able to absorb sudden downpours, and because roads can become unusually slippery when rain mixes with oil and rubber built up during the dry spell.
The wider context is a UK-wide drought, an official designation meaning water resources have fallen below normal levels over a sustained period. A few days of heavy rain does not undo a drought, since dry, hardened ground sheds water quickly rather than absorbing it, so replenishing reservoirs and groundwater typically requires prolonged, steady rainfall over weeks or months.