Storms hit London and south-west England, among other places, after the country experienced days of cold temperatures and dry weather, with some areas in the throes of drought. Heavy rain was forecast soon after the heatwave, when temperatures peaked in the mid-30s for consecutive days. A thunderstorm warning is also in place for much of the UK on Monday and Tuesday, as well as southern England on Wednesday. But while the rain may bring relief from high temperatures, scientists say it will do little to help drought conditions. Met Office meteorologist Dan Stroud said: “It will help a bit but to be honest it’s almost the wrong kind of rain. What we are likely to see is some heavy, heavy rainfall.” “With the soil baked so dry, it’s very difficult for the soil to really absorb water very quickly.” The field has been left dry after months of sparse rainfall coupled with two heat waves in quick succession. Storms hit UK after heatwave (Getty Images) A storm warning is in effect until Wednesday (Reuters) Pipeline bans have also been introduced by some water companies seeking to conserve resources. The Met Office is warning that the weather could lead to power cuts and travel disruption over the next few days. Areas badly affected by rain and flooding include Cornwall and Devon. The Met Office has issued an orange storm warning for areas in the two areas, as well as Somerset. Earlier today, a roundabout near the river in Truro, Cornwall, quickly flooded as the rain continued to fall. Motorists in Truro, Cornwall had to drive carefully around the flooded roundabout (Oliver Dobbs) It’s a dramatic change from the extreme heat of the past few weeks (Getty Images) Over on the Isle of Man, four houses were struck by lightning overnight, which ripped through the roof of one of them, the BBC reported. Melanie Smith, one of the home’s owners, said the incident had left her family “shocked” and described the moment the strike struck as “like being bombed”. Inverness in Scotland was also hit by heavy rain on Sunday, with photos and videos shared on social media showing water leaking from the roof of a Vue cinema and flooding a Tesco store. Storms also developed in east coast counties including Essex, Suffolk and Lincolnshire.
