Essex area torrential downpours amid thunderstorm warning

Andrewsfield in Essex reported 1.43 inches (36.4mm) of rain in an hour, rising to 2.2 inches (56mm) in three hours, on Thursday morning as heavy showers and storms swept across the east and south east of England.

A yellow thunderstorm warning is in place for the whole of the East of England, including Essex, as well as London and the South East, and the East Midlands, until 3pm – with forecasters saying flooding is likely amid “intense downpours”.

The Met Office has warned of difficult driving conditions and some road closures due to spray and standing water.

Train delays and potential loss of power and other services are also likely.

The Environment Agency has issued six alerts for areas where “flooding is possible”.

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The weather warning comes after a period of dry weather which has seen drought declared across swathes of England, with parched grass and struggling crops, streams drying up and river, reservoir and aquifer levels low, and hosepipe bans brought in for millions as heatwaves pushed up demand for water.

As of Wednesday, the UK as a whole had only 46 per cent of the average total rainfall for August.

The bank holiday is expected to be largely dry with warm sunny spells.

Temperatures could climb to 30C or into the mid-20s depending on how the high pressure builds, the Met Office said.

Spokesman Grahame Madge said: “We’ve definitely switched from the hot and dry regime to something that has rain in the forecast.”

While the downpours will mean this month will “catch up a bit” with rainfall totals, he said: “It’s certainly going to be a dry August for the whole of the UK.”

And he said some areas had gone without any significant rainfall from the middle of June until last week.

“We’ve had below average rainfall for such a long time, it’s going to take a period of above average rain to make it up,” he warned.