Why the hailstones which fell in Sheffield were so big
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Pictures posted on social media showed people across the city holding handfuls of large hailstones after they fell during thunderstorms which brought the heatwave to an abrupt end.
Craig Snell, a meteorologist with the Met Office, revealed the reason for their size.
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Hide Ad“Usually in the winter when we have hail it is quite small,” he said.
“But this time of the year, because the heat gives the thunderstorms more energy and helps keep the hailstones up in the clouds for longer, they get to grow more and then fall from the sky."
In today’s weather, South Yorkshire is currently under a Met Office warning for heavy rain.
The alert, which lasts until 10pm, warns that downpours could lead to flooding in some places across the region.

