People hoping the wet and wild summer weather might be left behind in July are set to be disappointed.
After days of rainy misery, the Met Office has issued a thunderstorm warning affecting millions of people in England and Wales.
The alert, which covers a strip of the UK between London and Manchester, comes into effect at 9am tomorrow morning.
A yellow wind warning has also been put out by the weather agency for the entire south coast of England.
On its website, the Met Office says: ‘Heavy showers and thunderstorms are expected to develop on Wednesday and may cause some flooding and travel disruption.’
Some buildings and structures may be damaged by lightning strikes, it adds.
The warning for the south coast is for ‘unseasonably’ windy weather which will cause ‘some disruption to travel and outdoor activities’.
Drivers and people living close to the coast are being told to expect delays on exposed routes, hazardous sea conditions and possible short-term loss of power.
Met Office Chief Meteorologist Steve Ramsdale said: ‘On Wednesday there is a chance of impacts both from rainfall and strong winds.
‘Persistent rain feeding into eastern part of northern England in particular, sees the risk of some surface water flooding.
‘There is also the potential for some heavy and thundery showers, which could be slow moving in places with a risk of hail, across central and southern areas. The stronger winds however are more limited to the south coast.’
Meteorologists point to the unusual behaviour of the Jet Stream as a reason for the grim British summer this year – and its extreme contrast with the blistering heatwave taking place in southern Europe.
While the strong band of winds typically lies to the north of the UK at this time of year, it has recently shifted southwards, and is currently stuck in a position near the English Channel.
Dr Chloe Brimicombe, a climate scientist and extreme heat researcher at the University of Graz, told Metro: ‘‘The reason the UK is not experiencing the heatwave is because the current pressure pattern puts the country in a dominant low pressure.
‘The atmosphere is always trying to reach equilibrium and so we have a constant pattern of high and low pressures.’
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