Thunderstorms and lightning predicted in London ahead of Truss’s speech

The weather could impact the incoming PM’s address to the nation.
Londoners may need their umbrellas on Tuesday (Victoria Jones/PA)
PA Wire
Isobel Frodsham5 September 2022
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

London and Balmoral Castle are predicted to be hit with thunder, lightning and rain on Tuesday as Liz Truss takes up her new role as prime minister.

The Met Office said thunderstorms are expected in the capital from midday onwards, with a chance of hail also bearing down on Westminster.

The weather could result in Ms Truss addressing the nation for the first time as prime minister on Tuesday afternoon inside No 10 rather than outside the Downing Street door, as is tradition.

Liz Truss is preparing to take office as the country’s next prime minister (Stefan Rousseau/PA)
PA Wire

Scotland is predicted to have a drier start before showers break out later.

In Ballater, Aberdeenshire, where the Queen is due to meet Boris Johnson and Ms Truss for the prime ministerial handover at Balmoral, thunder, lightning and heavy rain is predicted from 11am onwards.

Buckingham Palace said Mr Johnson is due to arrive at the door of Balmoral at 11.20am on Tuesday for his audience with the Queen.

His departure will, as is the custom, be private and off-camera.

At 12.10pm, Ms Truss will arrive at the castle door ready for her audience, which is expected to last for around 30 minutes before she departs at around 12.40pm.

The new PM’s departure, as is the custom, will be filmed.

Boris Johnson as he made a speech outside 10 Downing Street after meeting the Queen and accepting her invitation to become prime minister in 2019 (Aaron Chown/PA)
PA Archive

Ellie Wilson, meteorologist at the Met Office, said: “It’s going to be a showery day as it has been today, especially in London, with a risk of thunderstorms particularly through the afternoon from midday onwards.

“That’s continuing all the way until late afternoon, early evening. There’s a chance of hail too.

“In Scotland, a little bit of a drier start but cloudy tomorrow morning. There’s a slow-moving front that’s going to move northwards through the late morning in the afternoon, which will bring some rain and drizzle over the hills. There’s also going to be some showers as well throughout the day in Scotland.

“In London, temperatures-wise, it’s going to be 24C to 25C, still feeling quite muggy.

“In Scotland, highs will reach 18C to 20C.”

Yellow thunderstorm weather warnings are in place on Tuesday for the west and parts of the south-west of England and across the east and south-east of Wales from 2pm until 2am.

The forecaster says residents could see flooding, damages to buildings and loss of power as they face spray, standing water, hail and gusty winds.

The yellow weather warning has also been issued from 8.35pm Monday to Tuesday at 6am across the south east and east of England.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in