The Met Office has forecast heavy thunderstorms for 52 areas of the UK on Wednesday, as temperatures drop following a spell of extreme heat. The warning covers parts of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Unsettled conditions ahead
A forecaster for the weather agency said the UK will experience unsettled conditions with temperatures becoming cooler. Weather maps indicate severe rainstorms with the possibility of thunderstorms across substantial portions of the nation on Wednesday and continuing into Thursday.
Meteorologist Tom Morgan said on the Met Office YouTube channel: "I can't promise rain for all of us through the week ahead, but in the south at least, it's looking like the most changeable week we've seen here. Well, at least since the end of June. It will also start to turn cooler as the winds switch to more of a northerly direction."
"So as well as some rain, showers, and even thunderstorms in places, it will certainly feel considerably fresher than recent weeks in the south. There is certainly a more changeable outlook as we go through the middle part of the week. The chance of some heavy thunderstorms in places too."
Weather maps and recent heat
Separate weather maps from Netweather.tv suggest vast areas of the UK are at risk of thunderstorms on Wednesday and Thursday, before conditions improve heading into next weekend.
Last week Britain witnessed its fifth heatwave of the summer, with the warmest day of the year registered at Kew Gardens, London, on Thursday when temperatures reached 38.1C. Wildfires have devastated areas across the UK, including in the West Midlands, where a fire in Stourbridge destroyed 19 homes.
Areas under the thunderstorms warning
The full list of areas under the warning includes: Cheshire, County Durham, Cumbria, Derbyshire, East Riding of Yorkshire, Gloucestershire, Greater Manchester, Herefordshire, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Merseyside, North Yorkshire, Northumberland, Nottinghamshire, Rutland, Shropshire, South Yorkshire, Staffordshire, Tyne & Wear, Warwickshire, West Midlands, West Yorkshire, Worcestershire, County Antrim, County Armagh, County Down, County Fermanagh, County Londonderry, County Tyrone, Anglesey, Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Clwyd, Glamorgan, Gwynedd, Monmouthshire, Pembrokeshire, Powys, Angus, Ayrshire, Dumfries & Galloway, Dunbartonshire, Dundee, Fife, Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Lothian/Edinburgh, Perth & Kinross, Renfrewshire, Scottish Borders, and Stirling.
