Met Office issues yellow weather warning for thunderstorms across UK today

'The extent of these thunderstorms is very uncertain'

The weather watching institute has said that there is a threat of "frequent lightning strikes and hail".

A yellow warning for Sunday 1 September has been imposed from 4am this morning until 9pm tonight for a sizable chunk of England and Wales.

The Met Office said: "There is an increasing risk of more active and organised heavy showers and thunderstorms moving in to, or developing across, parts of southern England".

It added that as the day progresses this inclement weather will steadily move as far north as Newcastle.

"The extent of these thunderstorms is very uncertain, and many places will miss them," it added, "but where they do occur, 30 to 40mm of rain may fall in less than an hour with perhaps over 75mm in one or two places, leading to a chance of flooding and disruption."

Despite an initial forecast of temperate weather, the weather forecaster has warned next week will see varying conditions, "with a chance of showers and some longer spells of heavy rain".

The warning is set to return tomorrow with the yellow alert predicting further thunderstorms across the country.

This alert warns people to "be aware" and states that "there will be some that will be directly impacted and so it is important to assess if you could be affected."

Meanwhile those lucky enough to be located in the South East of England look to be spared from the cold, wind and rain as mercury could reach as high as 29C this afternoon depending on cloud cover.