We’re not the only ones to say goodbye to sunshine

THE extreme heatwave south of the Border will end in thunderstorms and flash flooding, forecasters have warned.

The Met Office has issued three days of yellow alerts for heavy downpours after weeks of hot and dry weather that saw a drought declared for much of England on Friday.

The thunder warning is in place for England and Wales from this morning until tomorrow, with a risk of ‘torrential rain’ that will bring possible disruption, including road closures, floods and power cuts in the worst-hit areas.

South-West and South-East England faces a third day of yellow warnings until the end of Wednesday, as the rain eases off elsewhere. In a

‘It’s going to be much appreciated’

departure from the recent intense heat, temperatures will dip into the low 20Cs (68F) after consistently breaching 30C (86F) in recent weeks.

it has been Britain’s driest first seven months of the year since 1976, with many rivers and reservoirs running below average levels or drying up entirely.

Three water companies – Welsh Water, Southern Water, and South East Water – have imposed hosepipe bans, with more expected to follow.

Yorkshire Water has announced a ban will start on August 26 and Thames Water is planning one in the coming weeks.

Met Office forecaster Dan Stroud said: ‘We are moving away from the very hot and dry spell into a much more showery regime. We’re likely to see some heavy and at times thundery showers.’

He said some places could face up to two inches or more of rainfall in a short period, adding: ‘It’s going to be much appreciated by many people. We’ve had temperatures 12-14 degrees above where they should be this year.’

Mr Stroud said any rain this week will serve only as a ‘short, sharp shock’, adding: ‘The ideal conditions would be an extended period of light rain.’ A longer-term forecast for the next four weeks says prolonged rain could fall across northern areas.

But it says more hot weather could return at the end of August, particularly in the south of the UK.

The recent hot weather, which included 40C (104F) recorded in Britain for the first time, has seen unprecedented number of wildfires and weather-related incidents.

Firefighters have tackled 150 wildfires in the past week alone, compared to around 250 in the whole of last year, according to the National Fire Chiefs Council. There have been 745 wildfires this year so far.