UK to face widespread thunderstorms this week

The United Kingdom is preparing for what the Met Office has described as its "most explosive weather phenomenon" this week, with widespread thunderstorms and heavy rain forecast to impact 134 areas on Wednesday. The event is being driven by a developing "Spanish plume type of system," where warm air traveling north from Spain rises and cools, creating conditions for intense thundercloud formation.

According to the Met Office, the system will bring an unsettled period as low pressure moves in from the southwest. "As cooler air spreads from the west, instability increases and the very warm air rises through the cooler air, enhancing the formation of thunderstorms," the forecaster explained. The result is expected to be heavy downpours and thunderstorms likely each day from Wednesday onward, with temperatures remaining a little above average and turning increasingly humid.

The rain is forecast to begin in the south and southwest of England and Wales on Wednesday morning. By 10 a.m., heavier rainfall is predicted to concentrate around south Wales, southwest England, and parts of the central southern band. The band of rain is then expected to track steadily northeastwards throughout...