Thunderstorm warning for Scotland after day of scorching sunshine
Scotland is facing the calm before the storm today as scorching summer sun is expected to turn to hail, flash floods and thunderstorms overnight.
Scotland is facing the calm before the storm today as scorching summer sun is expected to turn to hail, flash floods and thunderstorms overnight.
The Met Office is predicting early mist and fog will clear on Tuesday morning to reveal plenty of sunshine and temperatures as high as 28C (82.4F) in the central belt.
However, hail, flash floods and thunderstorms are set to bring mid-summer misery to parts of Scotland overnight and into Wednesday.
The Met Office has issued a UK-wide severe weather warning for Wednesday advising of possible disruption to travel, flooding of homes and businesses, and power cuts.
Forecasters believe more than two inches of rain could fall in an hour in places affected by the thundery downpours but say the individual areas which the storms will hit are ''hard to predict''.
The Met Office warning states: "Thunderstorms breaking out over parts of Northern Ireland later on Tuesday are expected to extend northeast to affect parts of Scotland overnight and into Wednesday morning.
"There is also potential for some severe thunderstorms to develop across Wales, northern England and the Midlands.
"Here, the risk is greatest during Wednesday, by which time the risk of storms will be reducing across the west of the yellow area - and then finally also reducing across the east of the area by Wednesday evening.
"Whilst most places will miss the worst, please be aware of the risk of flash flooding. Frequent lightning, large hail and strong winds could be additional hazards. All of this could lead to some flooding of homes, businesses and transport networks. Disruption to power is also possible."
Met Office spokesman Grahame Madge said: ''The whole of the area that is covered by the warning can anticipate some thundery outbreaks.
''We are anticipating the most intense activity to be in Wales, northern England and the Midlands, but the warning area does include Scotland so there are likely to be impacts for Scotland as well.
''Downpours, where they do occur, could be quite heavy and we believe we could see rain of up to 30mm or so in an hour.
''If you get a cluster of storms you could see even more than 50mm in an hour in certain areas, which could cause flash flooding in some areas.
"It's hard to predict where these areas are going to be. The thunderstorms can develop very quickly.''