Storms follow hottest day for years

23 July 2013 Last updated at 04:14 ET

Violent storms have marked the end of a three-week heatwave with thunder and lightning hitting the UK overnight.

Train services out of Manchester's main railway station have suffered major disruption after a lightning strike hit the signalling system.

About 6,500 homes in Gloucestershire lost power overnight, which has now been restored.

The change in weather comes after the hottest temperatures in seven years - which peaked on Monday at 33.5C.

The temperature - recorded in London - marked the hottest day since July 20, 2006.

Network Rail said trains out of Manchester Piccadilly will be delayed by at least 60 minutes, with no details about when they will be back to normal.

Passengers have been told that all services have been suspended out of Piccadilly.

Tram services have also been hit in Manchester after a lightning strike affected signalling for the city's Metrolink service.

Storms have hit England and Wales overnight and will last intermittently throughout Tuesday and Wednesday, coupled with torrential rain and the risk of flash floods.

A number of properties in Sutton in Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, were damaged by lightning, with firefighters called just before 06:00 BST. A car in the town also caught fire.

In Wiltshire firefighters tackled a blaze in the roof of a house on Stonehenge Road in Durrington at about 18:30 on Monday.

Wiltshire Fire and Rescue said they received "many" lightning-related calls overnight.

In Kent a house in Lympne caught fire at 02:00 after a lightning strike and a property in Gillingham was struck about 04:30. No-one was hurt in either incident.

Fire crews also had to pump water out of a house in Sandgate when it became flooded because of heavy rainfall.

London, Essex and Cambridgeshire were also affected. In Market Bosworth, Leicestershire, 21mm of rain fell in less than an hour, the BBC Weather Centre said.

The Met Office has issued a yellow warning - "be aware" - for rain for parts of England, Wales and Scotland.

Yellow warning

On Monday, 33.5C (92.3F) was recorded at Heathrow and Northolt, west London.

The Environment Agency issued one flood warning, meaning "flooding is expected, immediate action required", and another flood alert, meaning "flooding is possible, be prepared", for areas between Gore Point and Hurlstone Point in Somerset.

Flooding hit rush hour traffic across the country.

Water on Newfoundland Street in Bristol city centre closed one lane of the M32, with traffic queuing for about six miles.

Greater Manchester Fire Service had to rescue drivers from two cars after they got stuck driving through water on Crossley Road, Burnage.

Overnight, Stansted Airport in Essex suffered a power cut causing passenger information services and screens to fail.

A spokesman for the airport said flights are arriving and departing on schedule and normal service is expected to continue.

He added: "Passengers are advised to come to the airport earlier than planned in case the situation changes."

'Surface water flooding'

Power was also cut to about 6,500 properties in Alderton in Tewkesbury and Marle Hill in Stroud in Gloucestershire. Western Power said the supply was restored at 08:20.

About 800 homes in Bedminster, Bristol were left without power from 04:26-04:42 and another 800 homes in Emersons Green, Bath and Taunton had intermittent problems overnight.

The Met Office's Yellow warning for Tuesday predicts "thunderstorms or longer spells of thundery rain during the course of Tuesday, with some torrential downpours in places".

It also warns of "the risk of localised disruption to travel" and "surface water flooding".

In Wales, Natural Resources Wales said heavy rain was likely to cause roads to flood and drains, ditches and small streams to overflow.

A further yellow warning of rain has been issued for Wednesday, affecting eastern parts of England and parts of Scotland, in particular the north-east of the country.

As for the seven-year-high daytime reading of 33.5C - recorded at Heathrow and Northolt on Monday - that may be revised upwards as the BBC Weather Centre said delayed reports from smaller weather stations could produce a higher reading.

It was the hottest temperature since a reading of 36.5C was recorded at Wisley, Surrey, on 19 July 2006.

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