Thunderstorms begin in the UK after heatwave

Thunderstorms are hitting the UK and weather warnings are in place as a spell of hot weather draws to a close.

There is a risk of torrential downpours, causing travel disruption and some flooding, the Met Office says.

Three days of alerts have been issued for most areas, ending on Wednesday.

Some parts of Devon and Cornwall have experienced flooding, after stormy conditions brought heavy rain showers and hail to parts of the South West.

Temperatures topped 34C in parts of the UK at the weekend and experts have said a lengthy period of rain is needed to end the drought declared in parts of England on Friday.

These areas include Devon and Cornwall, Kent and south London, East Anglia and the East Midlands.

Heavy rain is unlikely to ease the drought because rainwater struggles to permeate dry ground, meaning it will run off the dehydrated surface and lead to flash flooding in some areas, the Met Office said as it issued a number of weather warnings.

Lighting in a photo taken from Bo'ness, Falkirk, on Sunday

Much of Scotland was hit by heavy rain late on Sunday and into Monday.

A Tesco supermarket and Vue cinema in Inverness have been closed after their roofs collapsed following an intense downpour at Inshes Retail Park.

A lightning strike has blown a hole in the roof of a home in the Isle of Man, where emergency services confirmed four homes were hit during a thunderstorm overnight.

The Met Office also forecast rain to move across the country from the west throughout Monday, with much of Wales and England - other than the south-east of England - expected to see thundery downpours.

An amber warning for thunderstorms, meaning flooding and travel disruption is likely, came into force for south-west England at 14:00 BST on Monday and will remain until 20:00.

Heavy showers caused flooding in areas of Devon and Cornwall on Monday afternoon, including a flash flood on a roundabout near the river in Truro.

A roundabout in Cornwall was flooded but the water quickly drained away

Staff had to clear out floodwater inside The Milky Way Adventure Park in north Devon

Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan said there have been "very difficult" driving conditions and some hail and lightning accompanying the rainfall.

He said the stormy conditions could lead to some power cuts as well as flash flooding, particularly in towns and more urban areas.

Yellow weather warnings for thunderstorms are in place across much of the rest of the UK, excluding the north of Scotland.

A couple on Saltburn pier look out over the sand as a thick sea fret shrouds the beach

While parts of the country have been hit by rain, the south-east is experiencing another day of warm temperatures, with highs of 29C (84.2F) forecast for Cambridgeshire.

But the mercury is set to sink back to more seasonal averages by the middle of the week.

The Met Office's Grahame Madge warned heavy rain could lead to flash flooding as the ground was "like concrete" and water will run off before it can be absorbed and drain away.

He added it could take months to determine if the UK has recovered from the "very dry summer".

Stuart Singleton-White, from the Angling Trust, stressed the expected rainfall "will not mean the end of the drought".

He said the damage the dry weather has done to rivers and wildlife was "so severe" that the country needs "a wet autumn and winter" to move out of drought conditions.

Visitors to the National Waterways Museum in Ellesmere Port during a shower on Monday

Prof Hannah Cloke from the University of Reading said "really heavy rain can overwhelm" water drainage systems in urban areas as it often "cannot run away quick enough".

The hydrology expert also highlighted the Tube system in London - which was affected by flooding last year - as being at risk, alongside underground car parks.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has told residents of the capital to prepare for flash flooding - urging people to contact Floodline and to check their local authority's website for ways to reduce the chances and "minimise the consequences" of being flooded.

While the UK waits for rain to replenish dwindling water levels in reservoirs, some hosepipe bans and other water restrictions have been imposed.

South West Water are the latest water boards to introduce a ban, coming into effect in Cornwall and parts of Devon on 23 August.

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• How the heatwave is changing landscapes

The extreme heat has led to a string of wildfires erupting across tinder-dry swathes of Ashdown Forest in East Sussex and on the Studland peninsula in Purbeck, Dorset, over the weekend.

Firefighters in Derbyshire have recorded their busiest week since their current incident recording system began 13 years ago, attending 187 fires between Monday and Sunday.

On Monday, two men were charged with arson after it was claimed a disposable barbecue was thrown into Norfolk woodland.

Aleksejs Sokolovs, and Darius Lazausaks, both 45 and from Boston, Lincolnshire, have been accused of arson with intent to damage property over the fire at Bawsey Country Park, near King's Lynn, on Sunday.

At least three deaths in water have been recorded since the latest heatwave began:

• the body of a 13-year-old boy was recovered after a five-hour search in Skegness, Lincolnshire on Saturday

• a man in his twenties died at Lakeside in Doncaster, South Yorkshire on the same day

• a man was found by police divers in the River Thames in Hampton Court, south-west London on Sunday.

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