By Jabed Ahmed
The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for thunderstorms across parts of the UK as the heatwave finally subsides.
The forecaster has put in place a yellow thunderstorm warning for the north-east and parts of Scotland from 11am-6pm on Wednesday.
It covers major towns and cities, including, Durham, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Sunderland and Edinburgh.
The Met Office said heavy showers and some thunderstorms are expected to develop across parts of southeast Scotland and northeast England, clearing east into the North Sea later in the afternoon.
Some areas could see 15-20 mm of rain in an hour or less leading to some impacts from surface water flooding, the forecaster added.
鈥淎s the showers clear to the east strong winds may develop on the western flank with gusts of around 40 mph possible for a short period of time,鈥 it said.
The Met Office warned driving conditions will be affected by spray and standing water, and there will potentially be some flooding of a few homes and businesses.
Delays to train services are possible and some short term loss of power and other services is likely, the forecaster said.
It comes as the UK saw the hottest day of the year on Tuesday with temperatures exceeding 34C.
The Met Office confirmed that 34.7C was recorded at at St James鈥檚 Park in central London on Tuesday afternoon, beating a 34.4C reading recorded in Writtle, Essex earlier in the day.
The hot weather marks the second heatwave for parts of the UK within the last month, with scientists warning the searing temperatures earlier in June were made 100 times more likely because of human-caused climate change.
Provisional Met Office figures, released on Tuesday, show England had its warmest June on record last month, while the UK experienced its second warmest since the series began in 1884 鈥 only surpassed by June 2023.
However, cooler weather is forecast for the rest of the week, the Met Office said.
On Thuesday north-south split in the weather, with cool sunshine and frequent blustery showers across the north and mostly dry with warm spells of sunshine in the south.
There will be brisk winds and rain in the north on Friday, and it will be dry and sunny in the south.