A DRAMATIC lightning storm lit up the skies over Dorset last night after temperatures reached nearly 30C yesterday.

Lightning, thunder and torrential rain kept weather watchers up into the early hours.

Bournemouth Echo:

Picture by Echo Camera Club member Chris Van Essen

Local forecaster Jim Smith, who is based in Springbourne, said it was still 26c by midnight.

He said the storm delivered around 5mm of rainfall and the overnight minimum was 19.3c.

Bournemouth Echo:

Picture by Echo Camera Club member Marcus Faulky

He added: "Had it not been for the storm dragging cooler air from aloft, the overnight record would likely have gone (21.4c set in 2003)."

Lightning strikes were reported across the country last night.

Today temperatures are set to reach 24c with tomorrow expected to be hotter with 27c predicted for Bournemouth.

North Wales was the wettest area overnight, getting 15mm of rain in one hour.

By Wednesday morning, much of the country was already experiencing temperatures far above normal for this time of year.

"Quite a lot of places are back up to 23 or 24 degrees already (at 5am)," Met Office meteorologist Emma Smith said.

"It's normally 13 or 14 degrees at this time of year, so that's 10 degrees above average."

She added: "It will get to 35 degrees on Wednesday, with a small chance it will get to 36C." 

The highest overnight average temperature ever seen in the UK was 23.3C (73.94F) in July 1948.

Ms Smith said there is a possibility this will be beaten on Thursday night into Friday.

Temperatures in London are expected to reach 38C (100.4F) on Thursday, which would pass the current record for a day in July - 36.7C (98.1F) - recorded at Heathrow Airport in 2015.

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