Weekend is over in a flash! Met Office issues yellow weather warning for thunderstorms from TONIGHT with Britain battered by torrential rain and 'frequent lightning' - before temperatures rise again next week to 25C 

• A hot and dry weekend is set to end with showers this evening and thunderstorms in the south of England
• Yesterday, Britons basked on one of the hottest days of the year so far, with reaching a high of 23.5C
• However, the Met Office has now issued a yellow warning of thunderstorms for tonight and tomorrow night 
• Warm air from North Africa will bring higher temperatures later in week, with Tuesday tipped to be hottest 

A sunshine-filled weekend is going to end on a wet note with showers and a warning of thunderstorms tonight.

The Met Office has issued a yellow warning for storms covering much of southern England from 8pm onwards, with another warning in place over the same area tomorrow night.

Yesterday, Britons basked on one of the hottest days of the year so far, reaching a high of 23.5C (74.3F) in Northolt, west London.

That trend is set to continue today with clouds gradually gathering into the evening.

However, the Met Office warned the warm air is also likely to spark a few showers, some of which will be 'heavy and thundery'.

They stated: 'There is a chance that thunderstorms may cause some flooding and disruption on Sunday night.

'There is a small chance that homes and businesses could be flooded quickly, with damage to some buildings from floodwater, lightning strikes or hail

'Where flooding or lightning strikes occur, there is a chance of delays and some cancellations to train and bus services.'

Warm air from North Africa is set to bring above-average temperatures for May to most places in the UK throughout next week, but it will be broken up with potentially heavy or thundery showers.

The Met Office said that parts of the South East could potentially reach top temperatures for the week of 25C to 27C and Netweather estimates peak heat at around 4pm on Tuesday, May 17, which is tipped to be the hottest day of the year so far.

Met Office spokesman Richard Miles said 'at the moment Tuesday looks like being the warmest day of the week'.

Throughout the week, some people will enjoy warm sunny spells but heavy showers are set to move across the whole of the country, particularly in the North and West.

These might be thundery at times in parts of the south, central England and south-west Scotland.

Met Office chief meteorologist Andy Page said: 'The plume of warm air we have been expecting from the south will bring higher temperatures across the whole country over the next week.

'However, it looks like the effects from the Atlantic lows will prevent sustained high pressure building from the east.

'This means that while we might see some warm - and in places very warm - days, overall the next week will feel more like what we would expect of a warm spell in May, with some heavy showers around, rather than hot summery weather.'

To date, the UK's hottest day this year was recorded on May 6 in Faversham, Kent, where the mercury reached 23.6C (74.48F).