The weather agency says the developing thunderstorms may cause frequent lightning, hail, and brief heavy downpours. A Met Office spokesperson said: “Today’s heat and humidity has resulted in the development of some thunderstorms, which will move rapidly northeastwards across central and eastern parts of England this evening.
“Most places will not be impacted, but where they occur brief periods of frequent lightning, strong gusty winds, large hail and heavy rain are possible.”
The Met Office has also extended its amber extreme heat warning to cover “the final hot and humid night of the departing heatwave”.
The warning remains in place across London and southeast England, East Anglia, and parts of the East Midlands. Originally due to expire on Saturday evening, the warning is now valid until 9am on Sunday.
From tomorrow, temperatures across the country are expected to fall sharply before settling around seasonal averages through next week with temperatures set to drop by about 7-8C in places such as Leeds and London.
The record-breaking heatwave has gripped the large parts of the UK this week with a red extreme heat warning having covered London and parts of south-east England today. The warning expired at 9pm this evening.
This marks the first time that red heat warnings have remained in force for three consecutive days. This comes after Thursday was the UK’s hottest June day on record with a provisional temperature with 36.7C reached at Merryfield, Somerset, surpassing the earlier high of 36.4C recorded in Yeovilton, Somerset just hours before.