Weather warning issued for Sussex following heatwave

Following this week's heatwave, which has seen temperatures in Brighton soar to 30 degrees celsius, the Met Office has warned that a band of heavy, thundery showers is expected to move from west to east across Sussex on Thursday morning.

The band of wet weather will work its way down the UK effecting the whole country.

A Met Office spokesperson has said: "Some places will miss these, but where they do occur there is potential for heavy downpours producing sudden localised flooding of homes and businesses and disruption to power supplies from lightning strikes."

The weather warning will be in force from 6am to 1pm on Thursday.

Thunder storms are common after hot weather as a result of increased moisture in the air and rapidly rising warm air which result in the formation of storm clouds.

This week's heatwave is reported to have brought the hottest June since the drought of 1976 and Public Health England have issued health warnings and urged the public to keep an eye on their neighbours during the sweltering temperatures.

Following the death of a woman cooling off in the sea at Wittering beach on Monday, the RNLI have warned swimmers that despite the hot temperatures, the waters off the coast of the UK have remained cold enough to induce hypothermia. Lifeguards have recommended that swimmers wear wetsuits or drysuits if entering the sea.

Sussex Police are reminding dog owners not to leave pets in their cars even for a short period of time following the arrest of a man in Chichester on the suspicion of causing unecessary suffering to an animal after he left his Alsatian cross in his van for over four hours in Tuesday's heat.

The yellow level storm warning has replaced the previous amber heatwave warning meaning severe weather is possible over the next few days and could disrupt people in the concerned area's plans or travel.