Met Office extends thunderstorm warning as more areas told 'gather essentials' – list

Met Office extends thunderstorm warning as more areas told 'gather essentials' – list The Met Office has extended its weather warning for today, with more regions now facing severe thunderstorms - Brits are urged to gather essential items The Met Office has extended its thunderstorm warning for today as more areas face extreme weather. Brits have been told to gather essential items as parts of England and Wales face lightning strikes and power cuts. Heavy rain coming too and could cause flooding, with people also told to prepare an emergency flood kit. The warning was initially issued for 59 areas but has now been extended northwestward and covers 65. It is in place until 10pm. The Met Office says homes and businesses could be "flooded quickly" and face damage from "floodwater, lightning strikes or hail". Train and bus services could be impacted too, while difficult driving conditions are on the cards. "There is a slight chance that power cuts could occur and other services to some homes and businesses could be lost," the Met Office says. Some areas could see 20-30mm of rain falling in less than an hour, and perhaps 40-50mm in across a two to three hour period in some of the worst hit spots. "The showers and thunderstorms will drift northwards and ease during the evening," the warning adds. Areas covered by Met Office weather warning today - Derby - Derbyshire - Leicester - Leicestershire - Lincolnshire - Northamptonshire - Nottingham - Nottinghamshire - Rutland - Bedford - Cambridgeshire - Central Bedfordshire - Essex - Hertfordshire - Luton - Peterborough - Southend-on-Sea - Suffolk - Thurrock - Bracknell Forest - Buckinghamshire - Greater London - Hampshire - Kent - Medway - Milton Keynes - Oxfordshire - Reading - Slough - Surrey - West Berkshire - Windsor and Maidenhead - Wokingham - Blackburn with Darwen - Blackpool - Cheshire East - Cheshire West and Chester - Greater Manchester - Halton - Lancashire - Merseyside - Warrington - Gloucestershire - South Gloucestershire - Swindon - Wiltshire - Ceredigion - Conwy - Denbighshire - Flintshire - Gwynedd - Isle of Anglesey - Monmouthshire - Powys - Wrexham - Herefordshire - Shropshire - Staffordshire - Stoke-on-Trent - Telford and Wrekin - Warwickshire - West Midlands Conurbation - Worcestershire - South Yorkshire - West Yorkshire There is another thunderstorm warning for Thursday, due to come into force at 6am and last until 10pm. It covers areas of England and Wales again, where as much as 75mm of rain could fall across 12 hours.