Britain faces another 12 hours of thunderstorm chaos: Met Office issues urgent ... trends now

Britain will be hit by further thunderstorms today with the Met Office issuing an urgent 12-hour warning on what is set to be the warmest day of the year so far.

An alert covering central England and parts of Wales will run from noon until midnight tonight with up to 2in (50mm) of rain expected to fall in just two hours.

Forecasters said spray and sudden flooding could lead to difficult driving conditions and road closures, with a 'small chance that some communities become cut off'.

More delays and cancellations to train and bus services were also possible, along with power cuts and a loss of 'other services' to some homes and businesses.

The Met Office also warned homes and businesses 'could be flooded quickly, with damage to some buildings from floodwater, lightning strikes, hail or strong winds'.

It comes after more than 35,000 lightning strikes lit up the skies of southern England overnight - two of which destroyed the roofs of properties in West Sussex.

But temperatures could reach 24C (75F) in parts of the South East today, following a high of 22.1C (71.8F) yesterday which was the warmest UK temperature yet for 2024. 

While some areas will remain dry for the rest of today, thunderstorms are likely to develop from the east and move relatively slowly westwards or north-westwards.

Where thunderstorms occur, heavy rain accompanied by frequent lightning is likely with the potential for 25mm (1in) to 30mm (1.2in) of rain to fall in one or two hours in a few places as much as 50mm (2in) could fall in one or two spots.

It comes after dramatic photographs showed debris scattered across the grass outside the care home in Elmer, West Sussex, following the lightning strike in the middle of the night.

Elsewhere in the county, fire crews said another lightning strike hit a university building in Chichester which suffered damaged to its roof and power system.

No one was injured and residents were relocated while the damage was assessed and the electrical supply made safe, according to West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service.

While most of the 35,000 strikes recorded overnight by the Met Office were over the English Channel, millions of Britons were woken up by the storms in the early hours.

Southern England and Wales bore the brunt of the heavy rain and thunderstorms, with two weather warnings in place throughout the night and into this morning.

There were also delays on some Great Western Railway services this morning after lightning damaged the electricity supply between Westbury and Castle Cary.