The Yellow National Severe Weather Warning comes into effect at 9am and covers parts of central and southern England and Wales. 

Friday is another day of sunshine and showers, with these perhaps merging into longer spells of rain at times and conditions feeling cool in the fresh breeze. 

Later on Friday evening, more persistent rain and showers will arrive into the southwest, spreading eastwards overnight and becoming windy in the southwest by dawn. 

Thunderstorm warning for Saturday

Saturday looks to be a very showery day, with frequent heavy showers, some thundery with gusty winds and hail. Met Office Chief Meteorologist Dan Suri explains: “Frequent heavy showers and thunderstorms are expected for much of Saturday, before they fade from the west during the mid-to-late afternoon. 
 
“It’s possible that 10-15mm of rain could fall in less than an hour, while some places could see 30-40mm of rain over several hours from successive showers and thunderstorms. Frequent lightning, hail, and strong, gusty winds are also possible.  

“A yellow warning for thunderstorms has been issued and covers parts of central and southern England and Wales. While brisk winds ensure that most places in the warning area will be hit by showers, not all places will see thunderstorms. In this case it’s difficult to predict where exactly thunderstorms will hit because they are small and fast changing.  

“One analogy we use to picture the complexity of this forecasting challenge is comparing it to boiling a pan of water and having to guess exactly where and when the bubbles will appear. We know some will, but only in certain places, and that is why thunderstorms are so hard to predict.”  

A quieter day on Sunday  

Sunday will be a quieter, drier day for most. There will be some showers around and these will be most frequent in the north and also the east at first. Clear and sunny spells are expected for many though, with perhaps some more persistent showers later in the west/northwest. 

Unsettled start to the week, but then turning warmer 

The new working week will begin with sunshine and showers on Monday, mainly in the north, with plenty of dry weather in the south. Tuesday sees the possibility of a new low-pressure-system which is currently far out in the Atlantic, potentially pushing another weather front over the UK, but exact details surrounding this are uncertain at present. This low would help to develop a more southerly flow for the UK though, bringing warmer air from Wednesday onwards. Although temperatures look set to rise – with the high 20s°C possible in the southeast on Thursday – this warm air also brings with it the risk of thunderstorms, which could mean an unsettled end to the week.  

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.

Raindrops on the window