New weather maps have shown exactly where lightning may strike the UK as a series of thunderstorms work their way across the nation.
Recently warm conditions have come at a cost for millions of Brits who have been hit by sudden rainfall, prompting the Met Office to issue warnings for wind and rain. Stormy squalls have ripped across the west coast and look set to cover every inch of Britain – aside from a small chunk of the southeast – by this coming Sunday.
Over the last two days since the first warnings were applied on Wednesday, weather services have tracked dozens of lightning strikes arcing across the country. They have concentrated in specific areas, however, maps from the Met Office show, with the agency noting several thousand between Wednesday and today.
Met Office lightning maps show that the first few strikes were recorded on Wednesday afternoon, at around 2pm off the west coast of Ireland. Storms moved in and intensified early on the morning on February 20 at 5am and throughout the rest of the day, with thousands of bolts hitting Scotland and the Republic of Ireland/Northern Ireland border.
Since the first strikes hit at 2.10pm on Wednesday, 2,133 have rained down on the UK, according to the Met Office. The trend appears to have ended today, with forecasters yet to record any bolts on February 21. That doesn’t mean the worst of the weather has passed, however, as the Met Office expects conditions to intensify again by February 23.
The agency has issued warnings for dozens of areas from the tip of Scotland to southwest England – covering everywhere except London and parts of the southeast – anticipating strong 50 to 60mph gusts, and in some cases 70mph. The yellow alerts activate from 6am on Sunday and will last until 6pm.
The largest wind warning states: “Southerly to southwesterly winds are expected to increase through Sunday morning, peaking late morning to early afternoon with gusts of 50 to 60mph, and perhaps as much as 70mph in exposed spots along Irish Sea coastlines, Scottish Islands, and other areas of high ground further inland.
“Rain will accompany strong winds, which will make for very poor weather conditions, especially on roads. Winds will then ease from southwest to northeast of the warning area through the afternoon and early evening.” Three additional weather warnings for rain have been placed in Scotland, Southern Wales and the southwest around Exeter anticipating between 30 to 50mm of rain per hour over 12 hours.
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