Amber thunderstorm warning issued for southeast England
Author: Press Office
09:51 (UTC+1) on Fri 18 Jul 2025
Thunderstorms will bring heavy showers into the southeast of England overnight tonight and through Saturday as they move north.
Warm, humid air from the south is bringing thunderstorms to the UK today and through the weekend. Today the risk is focussed on northeastern parts of England where a Yellow severe weather warning for thunderstorms is in place from 11:00 to 20:00. It warns of 15-25mm of rain in under an hour in some places, and up to 40-60mm of rain accumulating over the North York Moors and East Yorkshire where storms align over similar areas. Frequent lightning and large hail are also possible.
Today's yellow thunderstorm warning across parts of northeast England has been updated
— Met Office (@metoffice) July 18, 2025
Valid 1100 - 2000
Stay #WeatherAware pic.twitter.com/kJy5tDzr0W
Further south, as we move into the evening, a separate area of thunderstorms will push northwards into southeastern England from France. A Yellow severe weather warning is in place from midnight on Friday night to 21:00 on Saturday across much of England.
An Amber severe weather warning has been issued from 04:00 until 11:00 on Saturday covering southeastern parts of England. The warning area includes London which is particularly susceptible to surface water issues during thunderstorms due to the high proportion of impermeable surfaces. Within this area, 20-40mm of rain could fall in an hour, with up to 70-100mm accumulating in just a few hours. If these higher totals fall over urban areas, there could be notable impacts.
⚠️⚠️ Amber weather warning issued ⚠️⚠️
— Met Office (@metoffice) July 18, 2025
Torrential, thundery rain across parts of southeast England
Saturday 0400 - 1100
Latest info 👉 https://t.co/QwDLMfRBfs
Stay #WeatherAware ⚠️ pic.twitter.com/BVzZAcVCco
The last Amber warning issued over London was for wind on 2 January 2024 when Storm Henk brought very strong winds across central parts of England and Wales.
Met Office Chief Meteorologist, Andy Page, said: “Intense rainfall will impact parts of the UK as thunderstorms move in from France. A range of severe weather warnings have been issued, including an Amber warning covering southeast England and London. The intense rainfall could lead to surface water flooding as well as frequent lightning and hail too.
“The situation is evolving, and warnings may be changed or added. This weekend is expected to be busy on the roads as more schools in England and Wales break up for the summer holidays, so it’s important people keep up-to-date with the very latest forecast. There will be spells of more pleasant weather in parts of the UK through the weekend, with some sunny spells in between systems as they move through.”
A Yellow severe weather warning for rain has also been issued for parts of Scotland from 16:00 on Saturday until 12:00 on Sunday. It warns of some large rainfall totals building up, particularly on southeast facing areas of high ground.
Warm and humid
Temperatures could reach 30°C in East Anglia and southeastern parts of England today with high humidity too, overnight temperatures will also remain high with lows of 18°C possible in the same region. Tomorrow highs will be supressed with more cloud and rain through Saturday, though still reaching high 20s Celsius in sunny spells between systems. Temperatures will trend down to around average for the time of year by the beginning of next week.
Further warnings on Sunday
On Sunday, widespread showers and thunderstorms are expected to continue, moving northwards across the UK throughout the day. A Yellow severe weather warning for thunderstorms has been issued from midday Sunday until 03:00 on Monday for the southwest of England.
Staying safe in thunderstorms
We issue thunderstorm warnings because the impacts can be very severe, with intense downbursts of rain in a short period of time causing surface water flooding, gusty winds, lightning and large hail too. It’s worth being aware of what you can do to stay safe if you find yourself in an impacted area.
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Could your property be at risk of flooding?
Check if your property is at risk. If you are at risk prepare a flood plan and an emergency flood kit.
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Staying safe in flooding
Check the flood advice in your area to know when and where flooding will happen, charge mobile phone devices, park your car outside the flood zone, prepare a flood kit to help you cope in the event of flooding to your home and business, store valuables up high and turn off gas water and electricity supplies.
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Is it safe for you to drive?
It is safer not to drive in thunderstorms but if you must drive you can do this more safely by slowing down, using main roads, using dipped headlights giving yourself more time to react on slippery surfaces and by keeping a bigger gap between vehicles.
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What you can do in a power cut
People cope better with power cuts when they have prepared for them in advance and it's easy to do. The essentials that could help you cope with a power cut are torches and batteries and a mobile phone power pack.
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Protecting your property from damage and other people from injury
Don't risk injury to others or damage to your property. Check for loose items outside your home and plan how you could secure them in high winds that can suddenly occur during thunderstorms.
There is more advice on how to stay safe during thunderstorms on our website.
You can read more about how lightning forms and how we monitor lightning strikes on our blog.
Next week’s weather
Looking ahead to next week, the unsettled pattern is expected to continue, with showers and thunderstorms at times, although some drier, brighter interludes are also likely. Temperatures will be near normal or warm for the time of year, depending on sunshine.
By mid-week, conditions may begin to settle from the west, though eastern areas could still see showers. Temperatures are expected to be close to average, although still feeling warm in any sunshine.
Read: Why has it been so warm and humid recently?
Keep up to date with weather warnings, and you can find the latest forecast on our website, on YouTube, by following us on X and Facebook, as well as on our mobile app which is available for iPhone from the App store and for Android from the Google Play store.