Floods have battered parts of the UK as lightning and hail are expected across England and Wales.
West Midlands Fire Service confirmed it had been called out to ‘significant flooding’ in Birmingham after a flood warning was issued for Perry Barr due to rising river levels.
The fire service urged residents to avoid the area if possible as it also responded to three incidents in the suburb.
Birmingham City Council has warned locals to ‘take care’ and to ‘avoid walking, cycling or driving through flood water’.
Images have emerged of flooded streets in England’s second city with people seen wading through water reaching above their knees.
One car was partly submerged with murky floodwater rising above its number plate.
It comes after an exceptionally hot and dry summer for the UK, which has seen three-quarters of England and all of Wales plunge into a drought as 28million people were hit with hosepipe bans.
Rivers and reservoirs are running low in some areas of the country after experiencing two months of no rain, with the latest bout of thundery weather set to bring more downpour than the last two months combined.
Floods often occur after a drought because parched soil repels the water instead of absorbing it.
A man in Birmingham wades through the water after Britain’s second city was hit with flooding
A woman leaving a property in Perry Bar. West Midlands Fire Service confirmed it had been called out to ‘significant flooding’ in the city
Britons are set to be further hit with bouts of bad weather over the next couple of days, with two thunderstorm warnings issued for Thursday.
London and the South East of England experienced heavy rain and thunderstorms between 2am and 8am today, the Met Office said. Meanwhile, Wales and much of England will experience the downpour and storms from 5am until 10pm tonight.
It comes as the Environment Agency issued 22 flooding alerts across the Midlands and the South East.
Today some areas will see between 50-75mm (2 to 3in) of rainfall as well as lightning and hail. Warm temperatures with highs of 27C or 28C (82F) are also expected, the Met Office said.
In the South East, around 30 to 40mm (1 to 1.5in) of rainfall is anticipated, with ‘fairly large hail between 1-2cm’, the forecaster added.
However, parts of the larger warning area could have more than 75mm of rain in just 12 hours, Met Office forecaster Craig Snell said. Temperatures will drop closer to average for this time of year over the weekend, with highs of 25C (77F) on Friday, before lowering to 22C (72F) or 23C (73F) until Monday.
Britons are only set to be further hit by bouts of bad weather, with two thunderstorm warnings issued for Thursday
The forecaster has warned of travel disruption, with bus and train cancellations as well as some road closures due to flooding.
Some homes may experience damage and power cuts from quick flooding while some communities may be cut off entirely due to road closures.
Mr Snell said: ‘We’re watching the risk of some heavy rain and thunderstorms moving up from the south. On Thursday as we wake up there will be a band of potentially heavy rain and thundery rain stretching across parts of the UK.
‘For parts of the Midlands and Wales it’s going to be quite a wet day really. We could see some further thunderstorms move into the south east around Thursday evening.’
Friday will see further heavy rain and thunderstorms across the UK, before further rain moves in on Saturday. A mixture of sunshine and showers is expected this upcoming Sunday and Monday.
Mr Snell said: ‘To sum up the bank holiday weekend, it’s going to be pretty unsettled; there will be some sunny moments in between if you can dodge the downpours.
‘It’s not going to be a complete washout; if you’ve got outdoor plans over the weekend, keep a close eye as there will be rain moving in across most parts.’
It comes as the UK entered its final week of an exceptionally hot and dry summer, which has plunged nearly three-quarters of England and all of Wales into drought, with 28million people under hosepipe bans.
Rivers and reservoirs are running low after some areas went two months without rain. Wisley in Surrey had 62 consecutive dry days until last week, while London Heathrow had 56 dry days.
Last month was the driest July on record for England, with the south-east left severely parched. Met Office data showed East Anglia had just 2mm (0.1in) of rainfall in July, and 56.3mm (2.2in) in June.
That means the rainfall forecast this week could be more than the past two months combined.
The Environment Agency said last Friday that south-east England had received just 3mm of rain so far in August – with rainfall totals for the month still below average across all regions of England, despite wetter weather in some areas.
The average rainfall for south-east England in August – using the Heathrow weather station as an example – is 53mm.
The Environment Agency added that seven reservoirs in England are now classed as having ‘exceptionally low’ storage levels, up from five a week ago.
Forecasters have also warned Britain faces more storms and rain this autumn and winter caused by an ‘unprecedented’ El Niño event.
El Niño is declared when sea temperatures in the tropical eastern Pacific rise 0.5C above the long-term average, affecting global rainfall patterns and temperatures.
The natural warming of sea temperatures is forecast to reach more than 3C (37F) in the coming months, according to Met Office calculations – while other climate groups have projected something even stronger, perhaps even 4C above average.
The Met Office said this year’s event will be ‘the largest since the 19th century’ – with one expert even claiming it could be the strongest ‘in 500 or even 1,000 years’.
