Scotland braces for thunderstorms across 25 regions today as bank holiday weekend turns soggy for millions


• The Met Office has placed 25 Scottish regions under a yellow thunderstorm warning — among them Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee and Perth — valid from 11am to 9pm on Sunday. Heavy showers, lightning and hail are forecast to move across the Central Belt, with millions of people in southern Scotland facing travel disruption, localised flooding and brief power outages. The warnings come after a weekend of torrential rain that hit Reading, Leeds and Creamfields festivals, leaving mud-soaked revellers reaching for ponchos. Met Office meteorologist Honor Criswick says Leeds Festival could see heavy, thundery showers early on Sunday afternoon, with Notting Hill Carnival and Reading facing wetter conditions into the evening.
Thirty-two homes near Birmingham's Tame Valley Canal were damaged by flooding earlier in the week, with West Midlands Fire Service deploying seven engines to 'significant flooding'.
Despite the deluge, 71.3% of England remains in drought — the EA's Philip Duffy warning that 'it's possible to experience simultaneous drought and flood as heavy rain falls on compacted soils.'
Five heatwaves have left the UK on track for its hottest summer ever recorded, with London having reached 38.1C — making this Bank Holiday washout the sharpest seasonal reversal in years.
