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THE WARNING COMES AS THE FORECASTERS PREDICTED "UNSETTLED" WEATHER GOING INTO HALF-TERM HOLIDAYS NEXT WEEK 15:28, 21 May 2025Updated 15:29, 21 May 2025 A tornado warning has been

issued by the Met Office as the prolonged period of dry weather comes to an end in the UK after weeks of sunshine and warm weather. Met Office forecasters have today warned of potential

thunder, lightning, hail and even a tornado, after the driest start to spring in nearly six decades. The UK has already seen an end to the "prolonged dry spell", which was caused

by a long-lasting area of high pressure, as rain has hit parts of the country on Wednesday, May 21, with 10-15mm of precipitation in an hour possible in some areas. The Environment Agency

(EA) previously warned of the risk of drought this summer without sustained rainfall, with millions of households told they may face restrictions on water use in the coming months. As of

Friday, May 16, 80.6mm of rain had been recorded for the UK this spring, which is nearly 20mm less than the record low for the full season of 100.7mm set in 1852. On Wednesday, May 21, Met

Office meteorologist Alex Burkill said: “Bit of a north-south split in our weather through today – northern parts having a lot of fine, sunny weather, meanwhile in the south we’ve seen some

wet weather push its way in… and there will be further showery bursts to come as we go through the rest of today.” He warned that there is a risk of thunder, lightning and hail in the UK’s

southern regions. He added: “It’s not out of the question that we could see a funnel cloud, maybe even a brief tornado across parts of the South East." The meteorologist warned of a

cold front bringing cloud and rain across eastern Scotland and then down the eastern side of England overnight, with frost possible across some parts of Scotland. Thursday, May 22, is set to

be a drier day, with a few showers possible across parts of the South West. Mr Burkhill said: “But these won’t be as intense as the showery bursts that we’ll have seen through today. There

will again be a good amount of sunshine on offer.” Friday is also expected to be “mostly fine” but the weekend may bring some wet and windy weather. Article continues below “A real change

from what we’ve become used to so far this spring,” Mr Burkill said.