Thunderstorm yellow warning issued for Scotland as up to 40mm of rain could fall in one hour

The warning will be in place until midnight on Monday covering large areas of the UK.

All of Scotland’s east coast is covered, including Edinburgh, Dundee, Fife and Aberdeen.

The warning area extends west almost to Glasgow, with the Scottish Borders, Perthshire and Aberdeenshire amongst the regions affected.

Between 30 and 40mm of rain could fall in an hour widely, and in local areas between 60 and 80mm of rain could be seen, potentially sparking flash flooding, the Met Office said.

Marco Petagna, senior operational meteorologist, said the thunderstorms were due to “low pressure sitting over the UK”. He said: “There’s a risk of heavy showers, which could be thundery in places, especially central and eastern parts of the UK.”

Flooding, lightning strikes, travel delays and cancellations are possible and there is also a slight chance of power cuts, Mr Petagna added.

The Met Office has warned there is a chance of delays and some cancellations to train and bus services where flooding or lightning strikes occur.

Spray and sudden flooding could lead to difficult driving conditions and some road closures, motorists were advised.

“Frequent lightning strikes and hail will be additional hazards,” a Met Office statement said.

On Sunday, up to 25mm of rain fell in an hour in parts of Dorset, while temperatures reached 30C in the south east.

Tuesday and Wednesday are forecast to see lighter and more scattered showers and sunshine, but from Thursday onwards thunderstorms are again expected in the south.