Thunderstorm warnings come into force for vast swathes of Britain as festival revellers refuse to let the mud ruin their fun

Thunderstorm warnings are in place for most of the UK as forecasters warned some areas could see 40mm of rainfall within hours.

Yellow alerts came into force at 11am in Northern Ireland, Wales, southern Scotland and most of England as the Met Office warned of winds up to 45mph in some areas.

Heavy showers and thunderstorms could impact driving conditions, delay public transport and cause flooding.

But rain did not stop revellers at events over the bank holiday weekend as partygoers at London‘s Notting Hill Carnival shielded themselves with cardboard and Reading and Leeds Festival fans donned ponchos.

The carnival staged its family day, usually held on Sunday for young people before the main parade on Monday, with many of those marching displaying flags as they braved the rain.

This year marks the carnival’s 60th anniversary since its first outing in 1966 and, while yesterday saw a quieter start with young performers taking to the stage at the traditional Panorama steelband competition, today’s celebrations drew far bigger crowds as the carnival took to the streets.

It comes after music lovers donned ponchos and braved the mud at festivals across the UK over the weekend.

In an online forecast today, Met Office meteorologist Kathryn Chalk said people will ‘need that umbrella at hand’ as showers sweep the country this afternoon.

Those marching in Sunday’s parade were undeterred, with one woman proudly holding the DR Congo flag

The flags of Barbados and Jamaica were also on show as some marched in ponchos down the streets of Notting Hill

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Thunderstorm warnings are in place across most of the country and extend into this evening

She added: ‘Through the rest of the afternoon, there are Met Office yellow thunderstorm warnings in force across much of the UK, so expect some heavy, intense downpours, frequent lightning, rumbles of thunder and also some hail mixed in.

‘The showers mostly focus across the west through the afternoon and becoming a bit banded, so some longer spells of rain, especially across southern Scotland and northern parts of England.

‘Towards the far south and east, that’s where we largely hold on to drier conditions and some sunny spells, but the odd shower can’t be ruled out.

‘Some strong winds as well developing, especially across the south-west, and feeling cool underneath any of these intense downpours.’

Highs of 23C are expected in Norwich on Sunday, along with 22C in London and Hull, 21C in Cardiff and 18C in Glasgow, according to the Met Office.

Monday – which is a bank holiday in England, Wales and Northern Ireland – will see a ‘fine and largely dry afternoon’ with showers in some areas, Ms Chalk said.

It comes after music fans at Reading Festival donned ponchos and umbrellas, and frolicked in the mud after getting caught in downpours over Friday and Saturday.

Friends arrived armed with their rain ponchos for Saturday at Leeds Festival

Festivalgoers sheltered from the rain in plastic ponchos yesterday as they walked through the muddy site at Reading Festival at Little John’s Farm, Reading, Berkshire.

The girls did not seem to have a care in the world as they had fun in the mud

While some were seen flinging mud at each other and playing in puddles, others hid beneath their plastic ponchos as they braved the poor weather conditions.

Elsewhere, England Men’s cricket team had their Test match against Pakistan at Lord’s in London halted by the rain.

Festivalgoers heading to Reading and Leeds, Creamfields and other live music events had previously been warned of unseasonably strong winds.

As of Sunday afternoon, seven areas are covered by Environment Agency flood alerts, meaning floods are possible.

It comes after continued hot weather across the UK, which coincided with extremely dry conditions.

These included the River Stour in Worcestershire, the Tidal Fal estuary and parts of the south Cornwall coast.

The Met Office has previously said the UK is on course for its hottest summer on record after five heatwaves, with temperatures of up to 38.1C recorded in London.