THUNDERSTORMS and heavy rain is set to batter Britain, sparking fears of power cuts ahead of England v Scotland.
The heavy rain began for most of the country on Wednesday evening, bringing with it a "plume of thunderstorms" sweeping in from the English Channel.
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Fierce downpours were dumped across large parts of the country, bringing hail and torrential rain, with today's England v Scotland Euro 2020 clash likely to be hit.
The Met Office issued yellow weather warnings for thunderstorms across large parts of southern and eastern England for the next three days, bringing travel chaos.
Earlier in the week, forecasters warned up to almost 2.5 inches of rain – almost a month's worth – could fall in two to three hours in some areas today.
There is a chance of flooding, power cuts and damage to buildings from water or lightning strikes.
Drivers have been warned of dangerous conditions on the roads as the rain continues to fall.
Train and bus services could be hit, a chance of Brits in isolated areas being cut off by flooding.
The yellow weather warnings are in place until 6am on Saturday as Britain's heatwave came to an abrupt end.
Photos showed a grey and deserted Brighton Beach just three days after it was packed with sunseekers.
Last night saw flash flooding in Kent as thunderstorms swept across southern England, with parts of Hythe covered in water.
But most of Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern parts of Wales are expected to escape the wet weather, with these areas avoiding the yellow weather warnings.
More thunderstorms are set to roll in this morning, with “intense” showers bringing up to 2.3 inches of rain in 12 hours in the worst-hit areas.
It comes after Britain basked in glorious June sunshine, with temperatures hotter than Barbados yesterday.
Wednesday saw the mercury soar to 29.2C at Heathrow, just short of the 29.7C peak in Teddington, Middlesex, on Monday.
The odds have already been tumbling on June being the wettest on record.
Leading bookmaker Coral has once again slashed the odds on June being the wettest ever, to 2-1.
The odds were 5-1 back at the start of the week.
Coral's Harry Aitkenhead said: "Thunderstorms are sweeping across the UK and the amount of rain expected is going to break all sorts of records for rainfall.
"There is now a strong chance that this June will go into the record books as the wettest we have ever.
Coral do however still make this summer odds on, at 4-6, to be the warmest since records began.
"Temperatures aren't dipping too much and the outlook for summer as a whole look bright still, odds on in our book to be our warmest yet."
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