Please see the attached report for our weather from the Met office
Today’s activity looks likely to be focussed around Cheshire/Merseyside/Greater Manchester/Lancashire initially then with Cumbria coming into play later on. We’re likely to see scattered heavy and in places thundery downpours developing from around late morning onwards through the afternoon before slowly decaying as we move through his evening. The main hazard will of course be high intensity localised rainfall leading to temporary surface water excess on the roads/rail lines. Lightning and hail could also pose a threat. In light of this we have this morning issued a yellow warning for thunderstorms for the whole of the Northwest (copy attached above) valid from 12:00 to 19:00. The risk assessment is for a medium likelihood of low impacts i.e. in any one place within the warning zone there is a medium likelihood of experiencing one or more of the outcomes listed in the ‘what to expect’ section, i.e.
· Some damage to a few buildings and structures from lightning strikes is possible.
· There is a good chance that driving conditions will be affected by spray, standing water and/or hail, leading to longer journey times by car/bus.
· Some short term loss of power and other services is likely.
· There is a small chance of some flooding of a few homes and businesses.
It should be added at the outset that, due to the scattered nature of the shower activity, not everyone will catch a thundery downpour today and the rainfall radar on the website, Hazard Manager or the App will provide near real time data on the development and track of the showers which, once formed, will tend to drift in a NW’wards direction. Those of you that stay dry may well wonder what the fuss was about, those of you who take a direct hit will not.
The degree and extent of shower/thunderstorm activity will vary from day to day over the next 4 or 5 days. Tomorrow, for example, the risk is somewhat lower with showers likely to be rather more isolated in nature than today.