UK thunderstorm maps show 14 regions to be battered by lightning and heavy rain

Yellow weather alerts for thunderstorms and heavy rain have been issued across the UK, putting a brutal end to the country's heat spell. Britain's blue skies and scorching temperatureshave quickly been replaced with stark warnings for heavy showers and thunderstorms which could result in travel chaos and evenflash flooding.

More than a dozen regions have today (Monday, July 21) been included in the Met Office's weather warnings - which include two thunderstorm alerts and two 'rain' alerts. "Rainfall amounts will vary from place to place but 20-30 mm is likely within an hour in a few places, with a small chance of 40-50 mm in one or two locations; this most likely across southern Scotland and northern England," the Met Office states.

READ MORE: Thunderstorms give way to scorching heat on exact date as weather maps turn red

"Lightning strikes are also likely along with the potential for hail and gusty winds." Speaking exclusively with the Mirror, Jim Dale, the founder and Senior Meteorological Consultant at British Weather Services, says it's hard to predict the exact time the storm will batter Brits due to the erroneous nature of the 'random beasts. "This is very likely the last day of major thunderstorm risk for now," he added.

"But within that risk anything goes, including lightning strikes, hail, gusty winds, flash floods, and maybe -just maybe - the odd mini tornado. Most of us will inevitably miss them but if you happen to be in one of them expect any of the above and take cover."

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The first warning (labelled below as 1/2) , which is slated to last from 3am and is in place until 9pm, impacts England's south east, including Greater London, Kent, and Oxfordshire. This warning was updated at 10am and has actually shrunken in size as the Met Office removed parts of southern England from the yellow zone. The second warning (labelled below as 2/2), which started at 11am and is also in place until 9pm, impacts a much larger area of the country.

Yellow thunderstorm alert - full list of affected areas (1/2)

East of England

• Bedford
• Cambridgeshire
• Central Bedfordshire
• Essex
• Hertfordshire
• Luton
• Norfolk
• Southend-on-Sea
• Suffolk
• Thurrock

London and South East England

• Bracknell Forest
• Brighton and Hove
• Buckinghamshire
• East Sussex
• Greater London
• Hampshire
• Kent
• Medway
• Milton Keynes
• Oxfordshire
• Portsmouth
• Reading
• Slough
• Southampton
• Surrey
• West Berkshire
• West Sussex
• Windsor and Maidenhead
• Wokingham

South West England

• Swindon
• Wiltshire

Yellow Thunderstorm warning - full list of affected areas (2/2)

Central, Tayside & Fife

• Angus
• Clackmannanshire
• Dundee
• Falkirk
• Fife
• Perth and Kinross
• Stirling

East Midlands

• Derby
• Derbyshire
• Leicester
• Leicestershire
• Lincolnshire
• Northamptonshire
• Nottingham
• Nottinghamshire
• Rutland

East of England

• Bedford
• Cambridgeshire
• Norfolk
• Peterborough

Grampian

• Aberdeenshire
• Moray

Highlands & Eilean Siar

• Highland

London & South East England

• Buckinghamshire
• Milton Keynes
• Oxfordshire

North East England

• Darlington
• Durham
• Gateshead
• Hartlepool
• Middlesbrough
• Newcastle upon Tyne
• North Tyneside
• Northumberland
• Redcar and Cleveland
• South Tyneside
• Stockton-on-Tees
• Sunderland

North West England

• Blackburn with Darwen
• Blackpool
• Cheshire East
• Cheshire West and Chester
• Cumbria
• Greater Manchester
• Halton
• Lancashire
• Merseyside
• Warrington

SW Scotland, Lothian Borders

• Dumfries and Galloway
• East Lothian
• Edinburgh
• Midlothian Council
• Scottish Borders
• West Lothian

South West England

• Gloucestershire
• Swindon
• Wiltshire

Strathclyde

• Argyll and Bute
• East Ayrshire
• East Dunbartonshire
• East Renfrewshire
• Glasgow
• Inverclyde
• North Ayrshire
• North Lanarkshire
• Renfrewshire
• South Ayrshire
• South Lanarkshire
• West Dunbartonshire

Wales

• Conwy
• Denbighshire
• Flintshire
• Gwynedd
• Powys
• Wrexham

West Midlands

• Herefordshire
• Shropshire
• Staffordshire
• Stoke-on-Trent
• Telford and Wrekin
• Warwickshire
• West Midlands Conurbation
• Worcestershire

Yorkshire & Humber

• East Riding of Yorkshire
• Kingston upon Hull
• North East Lincolnshire
• North Lincolnshire
• North Yorkshire
• South Yorkshire
• West Yorkshire
• York

The Highlands have also been placed under a yellow weather alert for heavy rain. The warning will come into place at 3pm and is expected to last until 6am the following morning. Over in Northern Ireland, an existing yellow warning for rain is predicted to end at 6pm this evening.

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