Violent thunder storms sweep across London and rock southern England

Met Office rain trackers show how heavy the rain was across southern England this afternoon (Picture: Met Office)

Southern parts of the UK experienced significant storms bringing with them thunder, lightning, torrential downpours and large hail stones.

Met Office maps showed the extent of the storms as they swept across the capital throughout the afternoon.

One person at Heathrow Airport said it was the worst storm they had experienced in 25 years.

Their experience is matched by radars that showed rain falling at a rate of more than 32mm/hour in multiple areas including Heathrow, Gatwick, Southampton, Maidstone and Oxfordshire.

Live lightning trackers show that there were storms stretching from Weymouth in the south west to Canterbury in south east, and all across London.

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The storms are expected to spread eastward through the day.

With them they are bringing bands of significant heavy rain, leading to localised flooding in many parts.

A live lightning tracker shows where the most active storms are at the moment (Picture: lightningmaps.org)

The disruption comes on the first day of a 24-hour Tube strike, meaning more commuters are travelling on foot or by bike… and today facing a soaked journey home.

Only last week the UK experienced its hottest ever temperatures with a wall-to-wall sunshine across many parts.

The Met Office recoreded six consecutive days above 30°C in some places, making Spring 2026 the warmest on reacord for England and Wales.

Spring rainfall was also 14% below the long-term average, meaning this weeks downpours will be more than welcome by gardeners.

Haven’t heard this kind of thunder in 25yrs. That definitely hit or landed somewhere. Office buildings shook. Car alarms sounding. Intruder alarms going off too. #London #heathrow

— Lamin Tamba (@LaminTamba) June 2, 2026

Feel free to chip in…

Hail, rain ☔ thunder ⛈️ and lightning ⚡ in London UK

It is June 2026

Is this normal 🤔🌩️☔⛈️⚡?

— The Lab Guy (@TheLabGuy8) June 2, 2026

Is anyone else enjoying the deafening hailstones thunder and lightning right now, west London 😱

— Traci Harris (@TraciHarris1970) June 2, 2026

Don't know if you can see lightning pic.twitter.com/S8MNDYYCkx

— Traci Harris (@TraciHarris1970) June 2, 2026

In the last 10 mins the weather in West London has turned from sunny starting to get a bit sticky to Thunder Lightening & possible Armageddon

— Jev Ward (@JevWard) June 2, 2026

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