UK weather: Ten hour thunderstorm with hail and lightning to sweep across Britain TODAY as Met Office issues warning

A TEN hour thunderstorm with hail and lightning will sweep across Britain today.

The stormy conditions were expected to start at midday today and will last until around 10pm tonight.

It comes as the Met Office issues a yellow weather warning for Wales, central and southern areas.

Experts warned of possible flooding of a few homes with some lightning damage to buildings.

They also said dangerous driving conditions, train delays, some power loss is likely.

Forecasters say tomorrow will also be "another day of sunny spells and showers,  although some more persistent rain possible in northeast Scotland in the morning, then over Northern Ireland later".

The weekend is also expected to be unsettled with sunny spells and scattered showers. Rainfall will occasionally be heavy, mainly in the north and west.

But temperatures are expected to soar in the coming weeks to possible highs of 35C.

And the hotter weather is set to arrive in time for the school holidays.

Most schools in England and Wales will be splitting up for the summer holidays by July 22.

And experts are suggesting the heat may climb to 35C in time for this date.

The  forecaster Brian Gaze said he wouldn’t be surprised if we got 35C, but the Met Office reckons the weather will be 30C.

Brian told The Sun: “At the moment long-range computer models are suggesting an increased likelihood of very warm conditions during the last third of July. 

“With parts of southern Europe experiencing extreme heat during the early part of the summer there is the potential for the UK to import some of that if the pressure blocks across Europe and the North Atlantic fall into the right places.

“Temperatures in the UK reached 32.7C earlier this month and typically the hottest weather of the summer comes in July or August. 

“In recent years periods of extreme heat have become more common in the UK.

"I wouldn't be surprised if temperatures climbed to 35C (91F). To put a little context on that, the hottest day in the entire decade of the 1980s was 34.4C.”

Martin Bowles, senior meteorologist at the Met Office, predicts a baking spell just in time for the school holidays.

He told The Sun: "The further ahead you go the more uncertain it is.

"But looking at the second half of July, around the start of the school holidays, it does look as if the most likely weather across the UK is settled and warm.

"There are good signals for dry, sunny and warm weather."