A TRAVEL warning has been issued as thunderstorms and four inches of rain are set to sweep the UK.

The Met Office has put a “large” yellow alert in place across much of England and Wales today with “torrential downpours” predicted.

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Between 25mm and 40mm of rain could fall in just one hour in the south east and East Anglia – expecting to cause flash flooding and travel chaos.

The forecaster urgently shared tips for how to safely drive in thunderstorms – including a warning to stay clear of heading through flood water.

And the RAC has also warned drivers ahead of the expected thunderstorms.

RAC Breakdown spokesperson Alice Simpson said: “Sudden downpours have the potential to quickly make the roads far more dangerous places – a fact illustrated by official figures that show an average of 1,660 people are killed or seriously injured every year as a result of bad weather making roads slippery.

“In 2022 alone, the most recent year for which data is available, there were 53 such fatalities.

“Our patrols are also expecting a 75 per cent rise in calls from drivers whose vehicles become ditched or bogged due to intense rainfall.

“Anyone travelling by car when thunderstorms are expected should delay their journeys until the storms pass if possible.

“Otherwise, it’s best to stick to major roads, reduce speeds and always keep a firm grip of the steering wheel.

“It’s essential motorists do everything they can to avoid breaking down in the first place, like checking oil and coolant levels on their cars when the engine is cold.

“Oil should be topped up if it’s low, and if coolant isn’t between the ‘min’ and ‘max’ levels then drivers should top that up too – or take their car to a reputable Mobile Mechanic or garage to get it checked without delay.”

Heavy rain has already caused flooding in parts of Birmingham.

One woman captured footage of a flooded street on Warren Farm Road in Kingstanding.

Elsewhere, 60mm of showers could batter Brits alongside frequent lightning, says the Met Office.

Hours of gusty winds and large hailstones are also predicted to hit.

The nation should brace for power cuts in parts – with other services to homes and businesses also being lost.

Fast flowing or deep floodwater is also possible, causing a danger to life, added the forecaster.

The yellow weather warning is in place until 11.59pm on Thursday.

Heavy rain and thundery conditions across parts of Wales, the Midlands and northern England will however, ease towards midday.

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Among the storms, there will be “a lot of fine, dry and sunny weather” and Thursday will feel “very warm, very humid and very muggy”.

Highs of up to 30C are expected from Hampshire up to north London.

Western Scotland is predicted to experience the coolest temperatures of the day of between 17C and 18C.

Met Office meteorologist Simon Partridge said: “The problem is that the winds are very light as well, so where you see those heavy thundery showers, there’s not really much wind to blow them through as often as when you have showers and it’s a fairly breezy day – you don’t get much of the rain from one particular shower.

“Where those thunderstorms occur, that local area will probably get pretty much all of the rain that that thunder cloud is holding – so there could be very locally heavy downpours which bring along the risk of localised flooding and surface water problems for transport networks.”

Friday is forecast to be “mostly dry with plenty of sunny spells” with temperatures of up to 28C followed by “generally dry and still quite warm” weather over the weekend.

It comes after Brits raced to beaches as the mercury hit 32C amid a Yellow Health Alert being issued by the UK Health Security Agency.

The top temperature on Tuesday was 32C in London.

The south east hit 31C while the south west reached 29C and the Midlands warmed up to 28C.