Trains delayed and care home hit by lightning after overnight storms - with more disruption expected

A night of heavy rainfall and thunderstorms has caused travel delays and damaged a care home in West Sussex.

Thunderstorms hit parts of southwest England and Wales overnight – with a Met Office warning in place until 8am.

In southeast England a similar storm warning has been extended to 10am on Thursday.

However, the wet weather may be sandwiched between two of the hottest days of 2024 so far.

Overnight, two buildings in Sussex were damaged by lightning strikes, according to West Sussex Fire & Rescue.

A care home in Elmer, West Sussex, was struck, causing damage to its roof, and a university building in Chichester sustained damage to its roof and power system.

The service confirmed that no one was injured and occupants were relocated while the damage was assessed.

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There were travel delays on South Western Railway trains after the stormy weather, with a landslide causing delays between Axminster and Honiton expected to last until midday on Thursday.

This has affected trains running into London Waterloo, from as far as Exeter St Davids.

The Met Office warned the storms overnight may trigger travel disruption leading into Thursday’s rush hour, causing “difficult driving conditions and some road closures”.

There is also a chance of possible cancellations to public transport, as well as power cuts.

Temperatures could reach 24C

Marco Petagna, a meteorologist at the Met Office, said that some places could see the warmest weather of the year on Thursday, with temperatures reaching as high as 24C.

This comes after Wednesday saw temperatures peak at their highest of the year so far as well, at 22.1C.

However, even as it becomes warmer, more thunderstorms could come on Thursday afternoon.

“After a night of storms, the rain will ease in the south of England for a while,” Mr Petagna said.

“We could see the skies brightening up in a few places and it will be another warm day.

“Parts of the southeast could even get to 24C and beat Wednesday’s temperatures.

“But as the skies brighten and temperatures increase, this could spark a few more thundery showers in the afternoon, so it is likely to still be a bit unsettled and the forecast will be changeable over the next few days.”

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Looking ahead to the Bank Holiday weekend, Mr Petagna said the forecast was a “very mixed picture”.

Most of the UK is likely to experience some rain, but temperatures will remain fairly warm in the mid to late teens.

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Wednesday was the warmest day of the year so far, with temperatures peaking at 22.1C in Santon Downham, in Suffolk, and reaching 21.9C in Aultbea, in the northwest Highlands.

However, other parts of the UK saw temperatures over 10C lower in some coastal areas – in Inverbervie, northeast Scotland, temperatures only peaked at 9.9C.

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