Met Office issues 15 hour weather warning as thunderstorms get set to batter North West

The warning is in place from 2am tomorrow until 5pm and could cause flooding, power cuts and travel disruption.

Bands of heavy showers and thunderstorms are expected to move north east across parts of England and Wales on Thursday.

As showers progress north eastward they will become temporarily slow moving, leading to an increased chance of surface water flooding.

Whilst the vast majority of places will have either non-impactful rain or remain dry, a few places within this area could see 30-60mm in an hour. Hail and lightning will be additional, possibly locally impactful, hazards.

What should I expect?

• Spray and sudden flooding could lead to difficult driving conditions and some road closures.
• Where flooding or lightning strikes occur, there is a chance of delays and some cancellations to train and bus services.
• There is a slight chance that power cuts could occur and other services to some homes and businesses could be lost.
• There is a small chance that homes and businesses could be flooded quickly, with damage to some buildings from floodwater, lightning strikes, hail or strong winds.

Regions and local authorities affected include:

North East England

• Darlington.
• Durham.
• Hartlepool.
• Middlesbrough.
• Redcar and Cleveland.
• Stockton-on-Tees.

North West England

• Blackburn with Darwen.
• Cheshire East.
• Cheshire West and Chester.
• Cumbria.
• Greater Manchester.
• Halton.
• Lancashire.
• Merseyside.
• Warrington.