Dozens of homes have sustained damage from floodwater following Met Office warnings for thunderstorms and heavy rain. This comes after most of England and all of Wales were declared in drought.
The Met Office indicated that thundery showers across England and Wales could bring up to 75mm of rain in 12 hours in some areas. This follows a summer with five heatwaves across the UK.
The Environment Agency (EA) issued 40 flood alerts, indicating possible flooding, across the Midlands, Yorkshire, and the south-east on Thursday morning. A yellow thunderstorm warning is active until 10pm on Thursday for areas including parts of the Midlands, east of England, south of England, the north-west, Yorkshire and Humber, and Wales. A second yellow warning for Lincolnshire, parts of the east of England, parts of Yorkshire, Kent, and Medway will be in place from 5pm on Thursday to 7am on Friday.
In Staffordshire, where a lower-level flood alert is active, 60mm of rainfall was recorded in the last 12 hours. Seven fire engines responded to flooding at 32 properties near the Tame Valley canal in Birmingham on Wednesday evening, after the EA issued a flood warning for the Perry Barr area.
The EA reported that 71.3% of England remains in drought, with August receiving only 34% of expected rainfall so far. Philip Duffy, Chief Executive of the EA, stated that a few days or weeks of wetter weather cannot reverse the impacts of several months of exceptionally dry conditions, noting that simultaneous drought and flood are possible as heavy rain falls on compacted soils.