The Met Office have issued a six-day thunderstorm weather warning for whole of the UK.

Here's the latest from the forecaster.

How long will the thunderstorm warnings be in place for?

Thunderstorm warnings will continue across much of the UK until Monday, August 17, with a risk of impacts from heavy rain, flash flooding, lightning and hail.

What have the Met Office said?

The current hot weather creates ideal conditions for thunderstorms.

Chief Meteorologist Paul Gundersen said; “Today (August 12) warnings cover much of England, away from the east coast, Wales and parts of Scotland.

"The storms will be isolated but where they happen there will be frequent lightning, gusty winds and intense, heavy downpours with 30 to 40mm of rain possible in less than an hour and, in isolated spots, a small chance of 60 mm falling.

“With the continuing hot weather large swathes of the UK continue to be at risk from thunderstorms and potentially the impacts from heavy rain, into the early part of next week.”

Seven hours of thunderstorms across central Scotland

Parts of central Scotland saw almost 7 hours of continuous thunderstorms overnight on Tuesday (August 11) into Wednesday (August 12).

The impacts from heavy, intense rainfall have been felt in many places, including Fife in Scotland, where an Amber warning was in place and a major incident was declared. Meanwhile, earlier this week homes and businesses were flooded in mid and west Wales.

What have the Environment Agency said?

Neil Davies, Flood Duty Manager at the Environment Agency, said: “Isolated thunderstorms could bring sudden surface water and river flooding to parts of England today, which may lead to flooded properties and severe travel disruption in some areas. Further surface water and river flooding is also a possibility from Thursday to Sunday.

“Environment Agency teams are working hard alongside local authorities to reduce the risk of flooding and keep communities safe, clearing grills and weed screens in areas which may be affected by heavy showers, and are ready to respond and support where needed.

"We urge people to check their flood risk, sign up for free flood warnings and keep up to date with the latest situation at Gov.uk, call Floodline on 0345 988 1188 or follow @EnvAgency on Twitter for the latest flood updates.”

How long will the hot weather last across the UK?

The hot weather will continue as we head towards the end of the week, with heatwave conditions persisting for many in the southern half of the UK.

Latest forecast from the Met Office

Away from the thunderstorms it will be a mainly dry and sunny. Temperatures today are expected to reach 34C on Thursday, before dipping slightly to the mid to high 20’sC for Friday and the weekend.

Overnight temperatures will also continue high for many with some areas staying over 20C throughout the night.

Nights where the temperature, somewhere in the UK stays at 20C or above are called Tropical Nights.

"So far, this month we have seen 4 tropical nights 6th, 10th, 11th, and the 12th, there was also a Tropical Night on June 25th making 5 so far in 2020," the Met Office said.

Between 1961 and 1990 there were no less than 44 Tropical Nights, between 2008 and 2017 there were 12, five in 2018 and four in 2019.

The hot weather has resulted in Public Health England issuing heat health alerts for parts of England into next week.

Friday saw 36.4C recorded at Heathrow and Kew Gardens, the hottest August day since August 10, 2003 (38.5C, Faversham), while 34.5C was recorded on Saturday and 34C on Sunday.

The highest temperature on record for the UK was 38.7C recorded at Cambridge Botanic Garden on July 25, last year, while the hottest August day on record is 38.5C recorded at Faversham on August 10, 2003).