Sheffield woken by massive thunderstorm as video captures huge bolts of lightning

Large parts of the city witnessed the incredible lightning display strike at around 3pm with many skygazers sharing footage on social media.

Cece posted: “Really good storm in Sheffield. Could tell it was going to thunder.”

Sheffield Environmental posted: “The storm's here! Not so many lightning bolts overhead though.”

Jane replied: “Its directly overhead the North of Sheffield.... jeez, its like a tropical storm! One thunder clap rattled the double-glazing!”

The Met Office yesterday issued a yellow severe weather warning for most of England, Wales and Scotland until 9am on Wednesday.

North Wales was the wettest area overnight, getting 15mm of rain in one hour.

The thunderstorms come with Sheffield braced for what could be its hottest ever day on Thursday.

Temperatures are forecast to reach 35C on Thurssday and 38C in London, which would pass the current record for a day in July - 36.7C (98.1F) - recorded at Heathrow Airport in 2015.

"Quite a lot of places are back up to 23 or 24 degrees already (at 5am)," Met Office meteorologist Emma Smith said.

"It's normally 13 or 14 degrees at this time of year, so that's 10 degrees above average.

"It will get to 35 degrees on Wednesday, with a small chance it will get to 36C."

Train company Southeastern said it would be running a "significantly reduced service" on Thursday due to speed restrictions announced by Network Rail.

Southeastern operates trains in south-east London and Kent and also serves parts of East Sussex.

Dr Sam Hampton, a post-doctoral research associate at the Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, advised people to wear "lighter, loose-fitting clothing before cranking up the air conditioner", adding that: "If necessary, air-conditioners should only be run when all the windows are closed."

In London, police were searching for three people who have gone missing in the River Thames.

The Metropolitan Police said a swimmer went missing at Shadwell Basin on Tuesday evening, a second at Waterloo Bridge and a third near Kingston High Street.