Sussex and Surrey weather: Will there be more thunderstorms this weekend?

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Here is the weather forecast for the weekend after a thunderstorm hit West Sussex earlier today (Friday, September 20).

Crawley was among the locations hit by torrential rain, thunder and lightning around 11am. This has resulted in flooding on roads in and around the town centre, but there have been sunny conditions since the rain.

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The railway line in East Grinstead was temporarily closed earlier today and a fallen tree has reportedly led to the closure of the A2011 between the Hazelwick flyover and Tushmore roundabout.

This came after the Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for thunderstorms in West Sussex – and the majority of Surrey.

Crawley was among the locations hit by torrential rain, thunder and lightning around 11am.  This has resulted in flooding on roads in and around the town centre. Photo: Eddie MitchellCrawley was among the locations hit by torrential rain, thunder and lightning around 11am.  This has resulted in flooding on roads in and around the town centre. Photo: Eddie Mitchell
Crawley was among the locations hit by torrential rain, thunder and lightning around 11am.  This has resulted in flooding on roads in and around the town centre. Photo: Eddie Mitchell

A yellow warning for rain comes into force on Sunday – and Chichester in West Sussex is included in the warning area.

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A spokesperson said: “Areas of heavy rain will bring the potential for disruption on Sunday.

“Spray and flooding could lead to difficult driving conditions and some temporary road closures.

“There is a small chance that some rural communities will temporarily become cut off by flooded roads

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“Significant delays or cancellations to train and bus services are possible.”

The Met Office said weather in the UK is ‘turning more unsettled’ after a ‘widely settled period’.

A spokesperson said: “As high pressure, which has brought the recent spell of settled weather, pulls away to the north the weather turns wetter, particularly for the southern half of the UK. Friday and the weekend will see heavy showers and thunderstorms develop across southern areas. Yellow National Severe Weather Warnings for thunderstorms have been issued for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.”

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Met Office Chief Meteorologist, Jason Kelly said thundery downpours have developed across parts of southern England, and ‘will last into Friday evening’ – bringing ‘frequent lightning, gusty winds, hail, and spells of heavy rain’.

He added: “The risk of thunderstorms persists into the weekend with potentially longer spells of heavy rain for some along with a continued risk of hail and lightning accompanying the most intense storms. Parts of the Midlands, southern England and east Wales appear at greatest risk of seeing these conditions.

“The warnings cover the areas of the country most at risk of seeing thunderstorms but not everyone within a warning area will experience a thunderstorm. For many much of the time it will remain dry.”

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Met Office Deputy Chief Meteorologist Dan Harris said the area of ‘persistent and at times heavy rain’ is expected to have ‘developed by the end of Sunday’.

It ‘will most likely continue’ for ‘some parts’ of southern UK ‘through at least the first part of Monday’ – before starting to clear eastwards.

Mr Harris added: “By this time however, confidence falls sharply in terms of both its exact location, and rainfall amounts. We are keeping a further warning for Monday under review, so please keep up to date with the latest forecast for your area.”

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The Met Office said this change to more unsettled weather ‘will also see a downturn in temperatures’ – beginning in the far north particularly as we head into the early part of next week.

Further ahead, the weather experts are expecting a ‘window of quieter conditions’ for many places on Tuesday before wet and windy, ‘autumnal’, weather once again ‘moves across the UK from the North Atlantic’.

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