Summer holiday travel warning as drivers brace for carnage on roads this weekend – with 1,000s ALREADY stuck in traffic
Thousands of families are already stuck in traffic as travellers have hit packed roads to getaway at the start of the longest school holiday of the year.
The Met Office has issued a number of weather warnings between today and Monday, including an amber warning for thunderstorms for part of the UK.
Motorists in the affected area have been warned of "torrential rain" which could lead to some "significant surface water flooding" on Saturday morning.
The warning, in place from 4am until 11am on Saturday, covers much of south-east England, including large swathes of Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Hampshire, and London.
The Met Office has warned that heavy rain could lead to "spray and sudden flooding" on roads.
This, it warns, could then lead to "difficult driving conditions and some road closures".
National Highways has advised drivers to take caution on the roads this weekend and frequently check traffic conditions.
The Met Office has also said that the thunderstorms could lead to "some cancellations of train and bus services", causing misery for countless other travellers.
There could also be "some damage to buildings from floodwater, lightning strikes, hail or strong winds" as well as a "danger to life" from "fast flowing or deep floodwater".
The Met Office explained: "Areas of heavy rain with embedded thunderstorms will move northwards during the early hours of Saturday, with torrential downpours in places.
"Accumulations of 20-40 mm are possible in 1 hour, and where heavy downpours persist then as much as 70-100 mm could accumulate in just a few hours.
"Significant impacts are possible if this occurs over more urban areas.
"The more widespread heavy rain should clear to the north during Saturday morning, but additional scattered heavy showers and a few thunderstorms could develop during Saturday afternoon and early evening, this risk covered by the much larger Yellow thunderstorm warning."
The amber area is entirely encapsulated by a much larger yellow thunderstorm warning for the vast majority of England.
Much of the country, excluding regions of the South West, is under the warning, which kicks in from midnight tonight until 9pm tomorrow.
It warns of "heavy rain with some thunderstorms", which could lead to travel disruption and a possible "danger to life".
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