UK hit by hundreds of lightning strikes on Saturday amid heavy rainfall
It comes after the country saw its warmest spring equinox day since 1972 on Thursday as temperatures reached 21C in some areas.
Heavy rain, hail and thunder hit southern England and the East Midlands on Saturday as the UK saw around 400 lightning strikes.
The heavy rainfall caused some flooding and National Highways said parts of the M18 in Yorkshire were closed on Saturday and parts of the M40 near Warwick remained closed on Sunday.
Ellie Glaisyer, a meteorologist at the Met Office, said: “There were a few thunderstorms across the London and Buckinghamshire area, and then a few more across the eastern Midlands into southern parts of Lincolnshire.
“In terms of rainfall totals, mostly seeing sort of 10 to 15 millimetres, and anywhere between sort of 20 minutes and an hour.
“In terms of lightning strikes, there were around 300 to 400 lightning strikes total throughout the whole day yesterday.”
This comes after the UK saw its warmest spring equinox day since 1972 on Thursday as temperatures reached 21C in parts of the country.
Ms Glaisyer added: “It was a lot to do with surface-based convection, with the sun being strong enough to heat up the ground, which allowed the air to rise, which then allowed the thunderstorms to form.
“Temperatures were high enough that that allowed for some showers and thunderstorms to bubble up.
“Seeing temperatures around sort of 18C in March isn’t completely uncommon. Obviously, it’s more common now than it was, say, 50 to 100 years ago, but with a warming climate that is what we would expect.”
Flood alerts from the Environment Agency remain in place for 22 parts of the country including north Hampshire, Salisbury and Hertfordshire.
