United Kingdom

London will be hit by thunderstorms and rain as the heatwave draws to a close

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thunderstorms and heavy rain will bring an abrupt end to Wednesday’s heat wave.

The Met Office is maintaining a yellow weather warning covering much of southern and eastern England – with warnings of flash flooding, lightning and power cuts.

The warning is in place from 1pm to 9pm for much of London.

There will be light rain in most places, but there is a chance of heavy showers and thunderstorms.

The Met Office said cloud cover “will increase with a chance of scattered heavy showers or thunderstorms later inland”.

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Several places could be hit with 30mm (0.8in) of rain in one hour and up to 50mm (2in) in three hours, the Met Office warned.

Temperatures are expected to drop to between 25C on Wednesday as the scorching heatwave comes to an end.

It comes as the UK experienced its hottest day on Tuesday with temperatures hitting 40.3C in Coningsby in Lincolnshire. London’s hottest temperature was recorded at Heathrow at 12.20pm, where the mercury hit 40.2C.

A major incident was declared by the London Fire Brigade on Tuesday as fires spread across the capital, with Londoners warned not to call the emergency services unless life was in immediate danger.

A Met Office forecaster added: “Changeable amounts of cloud and the odd shower can be expected this morning. Showers will become more widespread and more intense in the afternoon, especially in the north.

“It will be much cooler than recent days, but still very warm in the north of the region and feeling muggy.”

They added that the maximum temperature will be 28 degrees.