ENJOY the sunshine while it lasts over the weekend as ‘intense’ thunder and lightning storms are on the way.

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for thunderstorms, covering the whole north west region.

At present, there is significant uncertainty as to the timing of the storms, but the weather warning will come into force from midnight on Monday and remain in effect for 48 hours.

Residents have been told that there is a small chance that homes and businesses could be flooded quickly, with damage to some buildings from floodwater, lightning strikes and large hail.

The Bolton News:

The weather warning covers the entire north west region (Credit: Met Office)

A Met Office spokesman said: “Areas of thunderstorms are increasingly likely to develop over the south of the UK late in the weekend or early next week, and will generally track north or north-westwards.

“While the most intense thunderstorms, in some instances associated with large hail, will most probably be those triggered by the high temperatures of the day over England and Wales, other areas of storms producing heavy rainfall and frequent lightning could reach further north.

“These could occur at any time of the day.

“Where the storms occur, rainfall totals of 30 to 40mm could fall in an hour, with some locations potentially receiving 60 to 80mm in three hours, although these will be fairly isolated.”