Thunderstorms Sunday 17th September.

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

Some potentially rather nasty storms continue to be a risk today.

Overnight extremely heavy rainfall hit parts of the SW. This will continue to be a theme here through the day. The area affected by heavy rainfall will expand across the south coast. Later on mid afternoon into the evening, areas around Kent and perhaps Sussex could see some severe thunderstorms.

Along with torrential rainfall, other risks included large hail, frequent lightning and damaging winds.

The Met Office have a warning out for the SW and Wales.
https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/warnings-and-advice/uk-warnings#?date=2023-09-17

[Makinglists]

Rumbling and dark here in SW Devon, rain just getting going.

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

Thanks for the report Makinglists. You are in a prime spot for todays weather.

[SerpentEndBench]

Thank you for the heads-up OYBBK.

[justasking111]

Might just peter out before it hits us. Puppy hasn't heard thunderstorms yet.

[PrivateMum222]

Huge thunderstorms in the SW at 3am this morning - woke the whole house up along with fork lightening. Still raining but thunder has subsided, for now.

[Velvian]

@OhYouBadBadKitten , we have an outdoor woodland activity in Bedfordshire mid to late afternoon. How likely are we to be struck by lightning?😬

[CrotchetyQuaver]

Waiting for it to hit later in the new forest, I am outside most of the day. Think it might be a 3 or 4 coat day ahead of me 😱

[Dontcallmescarface]

A bit dull and overcast in this part of Somerset. I doubt we'll get anything lively as we seem to have our own weather pattern here. Haven't had more than 2 rumbles of thunder all year.

[RafaistheKingofClay]

Huge thunderstorms here in E Devon in the early hours. And torrential rain at points.

Still raining quite heavily now but road no longer looks like a river.

[vodkaredbullgirl]

SW here lovely downpour early hours, thunder and lightning. Was fun driving in the rain, after a night shift. 1 dog went out one dog wouldn't till the rain had eased off.

[SausageAndEggSandwich]

East Devon here. Quite a lot of thunder and intermittent extremely heavy rain so far this morning. Looks very wet out there!

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

@Velvian

@OhYouBadBadKitten , we have an outdoor woodland activity in Bedfordshire mid to late afternoon. How likely are we to be struck by lightning?😬

Hard to tell! You could be affected by storms and heavy rain.

If a storm does arrive, do you have access to sturdy shelter? By sturdy shelter I mean a building with plumbing/electrics. Tents, marquees etc provide no protection from lightning. In a pinch retire to cars if that is possible.

Bear in mind though that thunderstorms can bring down trees due to high winds and sometimes create large, damaging hail. This may be possible during some of todays storms.

Theres a very, very rough guide to when to get indoors. If you count 30 seconds or less between lightning and thunder, then the storm is close enough to be dangerous. Seek immediate shelter. Stay in the shelter until 30 minutes after the storm has passed.

If there genuinely is no shelter, seek low ground. Get off hills and ridges. Be careful of the risk of flash flooding though, so avoid gullies. If in woodland, find lower clumps of trees rather than tall ones. Note that this isn't a safe option, it is a safer option. Avoid wire fences and electrical wires/pylons. Spread your group out. (But don't leave kids to stand alone to achieve this, poor loves!)

If it feels very close and you have got to as safe a location as possible, then either assume the lightning crouch, or sit on rucksacks, with feet on them. Do not lie down!

As you can imagine, I'm someone who believes that organised groups should have severe weather policies, ready to implement when severe weather threatens. People don't always act safely or logically in the heat of the moment. It also removes the fear factor, if organisers can be seen to know what to do.

[dothehokeycokey]

Heavy rain and thunder and lightening rumbling for quite a while during the night here in the sw

Rain was quite heavy at around half eightish and still dribbling now but not as bad.

It's very dark and a chill in the air so going to be an indoor jobs day

Feels suddenly autumnal here today

[vodkaredbullgirl]

Started again here, should be fun trying to sleep.

[DeathWinsAGolfish]

Dorset skies are very dark and brooding, a smallish thunderstorm at 5am, but by the looks of thing there may be more to come!

[SquirmOfEels]

Getting windy here in London, and just had a pop up Met Office weather warning for thunderstorms between 1300 today and 0600 tomorrow. Looking at the forecast page, this afternoon (1400 onwards) looks likeliest time for any thunder to reach here

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

A new thunderstorm warning has been issued, for the SE risk.
https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/warnings-and-advice/uk-warnings#?id=10d01559-8ad2-46e5-85e7-796e67e722f0&date=2023-09-17

[vodkaredbullgirl]

I've now got a paddling pool on my patio and small bin is full.

[BasilParsley]

Dark as night here in Bournemouth with heavy rain and a thunderstorm rumbling around

[AndSoFinally]

It's looking very ominous in Swansea, but no rain yet

[RafaistheKingofClay]

Rain’s eased off here and it’s much less dark. Haven’t heard any thunder for a couple of hrs either.

[themessygarden]

Ugh, flying into London, arriving 18.30 today, I guess I am in for a bumpy ride. I hate flying at the best of times.😩

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

The SE risk is mainly late tonight and into tomorrow early hours. Some tired people for Monday.

In terms of the SW, please do take very good care where there is and has been torrential rain. I'm concerned about the topography enhancing flash flood risk in some areas, especially around the Sidmouth-Totnes region. Thankfully this should be clearing through relatively soon now, so hopefully this risk is going to lessen.

[GloriaSmud]

Band of heavy rain/thunderstorms showing up here moving northwards

After a bright start, it's becoming overcast here (Leicester)

[dearanon]

I'm in central Scotland. Very dull, very grey but no rain.