More thunderstorms to hit Britain, Met Office warns - after hundreds of flights were delayed and lightning set homes alight as turbulent heatwave weather 'intensifies'

By OLIVIA ALLHUSEN, FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER Published: 23:05, 27 June 2026 | Updated: 23:07, 27 June 2026 More thunderstorms are set to batter Britain as the turbulent weather following this week's record-breaking heatwave intensifies, the Met Office has warned. The alert comes after lightning strikes sparked house fires and more than 800 flights at Heathrow and Gatwick were delayed, with dozens more cancelled as storms swept across parts of the UK.  Heat records were broken on three consecutive days from Wednesday, reaching a provisional peak of 37.3C in Santon Downham in Suffolk on Friday, and Saturday saw a high of 32.3C in the same location. An amber warning for extreme heat has been extended but the record-breaking hot spell is coming to a close. The Met Office warning covering the East and South East now runs until 9am on Sunday. The day's heat and humidity have caused thunderstorms to develop, and a yellow thunderstorm warning is active until 11pm on Saturday. The forecaster says frequent lightning, large hail, gusty winds and brief heavy downpours are possible in central and eastern parts of England. Thunderstorms have already hit the UK and the weather disrupted flights on Saturday. By Saturday evening, FlightAware showed 484 inbound and outbound flights were still delayed across Heathrow and Gatwick, with Heathrow reporting 42 per cent of flights delayed and Gatwick 50 per cent. An impressive lightning storm is seen over the English Channel from Hove beach in the early hours of today London saw major thunderstorms overnight, with lightning pictured over the city into the early hours Lightning strikes were also pictured in Sheerness, Kent, overnight into Saturday An amber warning for extreme heat has been extended but the record-breaking hot spell is coming to a close The Met Office warning covering the East and South East now runs until 9am on Sunday Air traffic control mapping showing airspace delays in the UK and across Europe One of the Brits now stranded abroad due to the travel chaos is 26-year-old Daily Mail journalist Edward Holt from Manchester. He had been in Cannes for the past week, but after travelling to an airport in the South of France to catch his flight at 6.30pm today he only then discovered that it had been cancelled. Mr Holt said: 'I got to the airport and just wandered around trying to find someone from easyJet, but they had nobody there.  'They did give me a number to call, but before I could another passenger told me not to bother because it didn't work - it just put you on hold. 'I'm lucky that my parents are staying another week in Cannes, otherwise I would have been stuck here alone. But the service from easyJet has still been abysmal.' Mr Holt said there were plenty of other grumpy passengers stuck at the airport in similar situations. He added that some might be in a 'right pickle' because there are no flights available from that airport until Monday or Tuesday. The weather has also been causing chaos elsewhere, as several homes went up in flames following lightning strikes overnight, including two in East Sussex.  Firefighters were called to the blazes in Eastbourne and Bexhill shortly after midnight.  Thunderstorms have also hit France, with dramatic images showing lightning striking the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The thunderstorms forecast on Saturday evening will move rapidly north-eastwards before clearing over the North Sea. The Met Office warning said there was a risk of short-term power outages and damage to vulnerable structures. High temperatures will linger in East Anglia and some face another tropical night that will not drop below 20C on Saturday. The day's heat and humidity have caused thunderstorms to develop, and a yellow thunderstorm warning is active until 11pm on Saturday Heavy showers are developing across northern England. Though small and fast-moving, they are expected to intensify into thunderstorms over the next few hours ⛈️Some areas may see 10–15 mm in an hour. Large hail, strong gusts, and frequent lightning are also possible pic.twitter.com/L9KBMtFgQW Lightning strikes the Eiffel Tower during a thunderstorm in Paris on June 27, 202 Pictured: Lightning in the sky above the Eiffel Tower yesterday  Children from Grasmere School in Cumbria are taught maths, physics and water safety on Friday Horse riders on Wimbledon Common, southwest London brave hot and humid conditions on Saturday morning However, temperatures are expected to drop by around 5C or 6C the following day. This will produce highs of 25C to 26C on the eastern coast and around the mid-to-low 20Cs elsewhere. Humidity levels will also fall to give 'a much fresher feel than what we saw for the latter part of last week', Met Office meteorologist Liam Eslik said. The heatwave smashed the long-standing record for June heat, which dates back to the summer of 1976, by more than 1C, which is significant given such records were usually broken only by a fraction of a degree in the past. A total of six people drowned during the heatwave and there were 15 water-related fatalities in May. Scientists warned that the heatwave would have been virtually impossible 50 years ago, with human-driven climate change fuelling more intense and frequent extreme heat events. Health chiefs warned of the impact the conditions were having on services this week as they faced significantly more life-threatening emergency calls. The London Ambulance Service had its busiest day in its history on Friday, with 8,869 calls which included 688 life-threatening incidents.  Hundreds of schools and nurseries were forced to close and a hosepipe ban was brought in for Kent amid surging demand. Several hospitals declared critical incidents, with University Hospital Southampton forced to cancel a number of planned operations and some outpatient appointments. The heatwave was driven by a 'heat-dome' – an area of high pressure that stalls over a region and traps heat – settling over western Europe and bringing extreme conditions across the continent. People cool off in the River Wey, as kayakers pass by near Guildford on Saturday Pictured: People breaking the rules and swimming in the ponds of Hampstead heath on Friday Hayden Jones-Powell, 13, was found dead in a lake in Leicestershire earlier this week Tragedy struck once again after 22-year-old Brody Leach's body was pulled from the River Severn in Shrewsbury on Friday This has been compounded by human-driven climate change, mostly caused by burning fossil fuels, which is making such extreme heatwaves more frequent and intense. The Met Office said the third consecutive day of June's record-breaking temperatures came as parts of the UK were transitioning to more of a westerly influence, bringing the risk of thunderstorms. And last night dramatic storms were seen across the southeast and in parts of Wales, as watchers filmed frequent lightning strikes and thunder claps in clips uploaded to social media.  A drop in temperatures will develop in the west at first, with these fresher conditions spreading slowly further east over the course of the weekend. Tragedy struck once more this week after 22-year-old Brody Leach's body was recovered from the River Severn in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, this morning. His body was pulled from the water after entering the river on Friday, West Mercia Police said.  Mr Leach's death is one in a string of swimming-related deaths that have tragically occurred during the blistering June heatwave.  A 69-year-old man died after getting into difficulty in Clacton-on-Sea on Friday. Emergency services including an air ambulance rushed to the scene at Marine Parade East at 11.05am, but he was sadly declared dead. An investigation is also underway after a man's body was pulled out of Weymouth harbour in Dorset, yesterday. Coastguard rescue teams, divers and a forensics team were seen in the slipway area while a cordon was put in place after the body was found at 3.52pm. People fill their water bottles at a fountain during hot weather in London this afternoon Sisters Julia (left) and Claire Bottoms at Sea Lanes Canary Wharf in east London today A woman on Westminster Bridge takes a picture of an ice cream in the sweltering heat today Swimmers enjoying the water at Charlton Lido in south-east London on Friday A woman feels the heat as she sits in the sun at Greenwich Park in south-east London today And on Saturday Hampshire police confirmed they had recovered a body in the search for a 15-year-old boy who went missing on Wednesday. The teenager was reported missing after swimming in Testwood Lakes near Totton.  On Thursday, 13-year-old Hayden Jones-Powell was also pulled from a lake in Syston, Leicestershire, after police divers discovered his body. And a 50-year-old man was also pronounced dead at Aberavon Beach in south Wales on Wednesday, the first of three consecutive days in which the hottest June day record was broken, after getting into trouble in the water. In Cromer, Norfolk, a man was rushed to hospital on Saturday after getting into difficulty in the sea.  The East Anglian Air Ambulance Service described the incident as a 'cardiac arrest'.   Met Office chief forecaster Andy Page said: 'The UK is seeing a gradual shift in conditions over the weekend, with those to the southeast of England retaining the warmth the longest, where an amber extreme heat warning remains in force through much of Saturday, though peaks are more likely to be in the low 30s Celsius.' Western parts of Scotland and much of Northern Ireland will see rain for a time on Saturday, with showers likely spreading further south in places on Sunday, though these will be fairly light in nature. Those to the south east could remain dry through the weekend, although there is a risk of thunderstorms here before temperatures return more towards average later on Sunday and into Monday. The Met Office said next week will bring a mixed picture for the UK's weather, with a combination of cloudy and sunny spells, as well as influxes of rain from the west at times. The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. 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