Scots are braced for torrential downpours as a yellow weather warning for thunderstorms has been extended to parts of Scotland. The Met Office has announced that an existing alert which covered the north of England, Wales and the East Midlands is now in place in the Scottish Borders.
After Scots basked in glorious sunshine over the past few days, a heatwave continued across the UK, with the hottest day of the year so far recorded as temperatures swelled to 33.2C near Gatwick.
But for the areas affected by the weather warning, the Met Office states that the heat and humidity could cause a band of heavy rain as well as thunder and lightning strikes on Saturday evening, into the early hours of Sunday. SEPA has also issued a flood alert for the Scottish Borders, which is " now in force until further notice".
The update means that residents in the Borders are being warned to prepare for potential flooding, power cuts and difficult driving conditions. There is a also a chance of damage to buildings and possible disruption to local bus and rail services.
The alert came into place at 5pm on Saturday (June 21) and will last until 3am on Sunday (June 22).
A Met Office statement reads: "Whilst some showers and isolated thunderstorms are expected during Saturday afternoon, further and potentially intense thunderstorms are likely to develop during Saturday evening across northwest England and perhaps northeast Wales.
"Whilst there is still some uncertainty in when and where these develop, thunderstorms could produce a combination of frequent lightning, large hail, strong winds and heavy rain (in places, 30-40 mm in less than 2 hours) as they move northeast into northeast England and perhaps southeast Scotland overnight.
"Thunderstorms are expected to move offshore into the North Sea during the latter part of Saturday night."
Meteorologist Aidan McGivern predicted yesterday during his weekend weather update, that the weather could take a turn for the worst as he said Scotland's southern regions could face "large thunderstorms, frequent lightning, large hail, heavy rain, and gusty winds" today.
In a video posted on social media, Aidan spoke about the heatwave and the potential for some extreme weather. He said: "This Saturday is the Summer Solstice; peak sun strength. But also, in eastern parts of the UK, peak heatwave, with fresher air arriving through the day from the west.
"But as that fresher air collides with the plume of heat coming up from the south, we're likely to see some very severe thunderstorms in places."
Scots continued to enjoy warm weather conditions today with temperatures an average of 25C today interspersed with scattered showers. Yesterday, temperatures reached highs of 28.9 degrees in Scotland.
Aidan continued: "Very hit and miss showers but by the end of the day we are concerned about all the ingredients coming together to provide the set up for some severe thunderstorms.
"And the main focus region at the moment is across the central site of the UK; north Wales, north Midlands, northern England, southern Scotland.
"That's where there is the greatest risk of very large thunderstorms, frequent lightning, large hail, heavy rain, gusty winds for a few hours on Saturday late afternoon and into the evening.
"If this comes off – because all the ingredients are in the right place, but it's at the moment too early to say exactly when and where – then it would cause considerable impacts."
Looking ahead to tomorrow (Sunday) and Scotland is set for some bright, sunny spells as well as scattered showers, occasionally heavy with a chance of thunder. The Met Office states it will be a "fresher day but still quite warm towards the east coast. Maximum temperature 19 °C."
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