Flood warnings in place after nearly half a month of rain falls in one hour

Flooding is expected across parts of England after nearly half a month’s worth of rain fell in just one hour as thunder and lightning moved in on Father’s Day.

Most of the country was blanketed with Met Office warnings for either rain or thunderstorms until the end of Sunday.

Between 6pm and 7pm, 35.6mm of rain fell in Woodhouse Mill, near Sheffield, the Met Office said. In June, the entire UK averages 12 days of rain, totalling 77mm.

Six flood warnings were in place across parts of northern England by 8pm, after heavy rain swept in during earlier on in the day.

Met Office forecaster Marco Petagna told the PA news agency: “Half a month’s of rain has fallen in one hour in one location, in quite a few spots we’re seeing 15-20mm, even 30mm in an hour.

“There’s been quite a few storms embedded within that area of northern England, Northern Ireland and one or two in parts of Wales.

“It’s pretty torrential, 25 to 35mm in an hour is certainly going to cause some flooding problems, and there’s still potentially bad conditions to come.”

Play was halted in the first Ashes test at Edgbaston due to the wet weather.

A yellow thunderstorm warning almost entirely covers England and Wales between noon and midnight, and there is also one until 9pm in Northern Ireland.

It warns of heavy showers, the potential for frequent lightning, strong winds and hail – which could cause flooding, travel issues and power cuts.

In northern England and Scotland, a yellow heavy rain warning is in place from 7pm on Sunday until noon on Monday.

There are generally moderate or high UV levels across the UK, despite there being more cloud, while grass and nettle pollen is also very strong, the Met Office said.

Temperatures reached the low twenties – despite the UK being in an area of low pressure.