Huge golf ball-sized hailstones struck Britain after violent thunderstorms put an abrupt end to the UK’s lengthy heatwave.
Freak storms in York saw giant hailstones fall from the sky – creating holes in canvas roofs and smacking off people’s heads.
The bizarre weather phenomenon occurred while the rest of Britain embraced heavy downpours of torrential rain – enjoying a break from the high temperatures of 95F (35C) experienced by many this Summer.
Yet holidaygoers were less than impressed by the impact the adverse weather had on their travel plans as airports, including Stansted, were sparked into chaos.
Huge golf ball-sized hailstones struck Britain after violent thunderstorms put an abrupt end to the UK’s lengthy heatwave
Freak storms in York saw giant hailstones fall from the sky – creating holes in canvas roofs (right) and smacking off people’s heads
Batten down the hatches: The hail stones were bigger than a one pound coin as illustrated in the above picture
Ross Hewitt was one resident of York who was caught in the hail as he was bombarded with sharp icy objects while walking through the city.
As the icy chunks also battered vehicles and the road surface of a nearby car park, the digital marketing MD was forced to take cover in a nearby sheltered area.
After being struck by one of the hailstones on his head, Hewitt said: ‘It was jaw-dropping. I was walking to the car when it started and had one hailstone ping off the top of my head.
‘It stung like hell. I have never seen anything like it in the UK before, the size of them ranged from garden peas up to golf balls.
‘The larger ones had even lost their round shape and become jagged and spikey. Overall, the deluge lasted for 90 minutes, coming in three spells.
‘Less than 20 minutes after it had stopped though, there was sunshine, and the ice was all gone.’
Pictured : Damage to a roof caused by the hailstones (right) and one of the giant hailstones that fell in a freak storm in York (left)
Ross Hewitt was one resident of York who was caught in the hail as he was bombarded with sharp icy objects while walking through the city. As the icy chunks also battered vehicles and the road surface of a nearby car park, the digital marketing MD was forced to take cover in a nearby sheltered area
It comes as heavy rainfall on Friday marked the end of the UK heatwave – with warnings of sudden flooding, power cuts, and ‘danger to life’ storms still in force.
Thursday saw the highest temperature recorded in the UK since 2015, with the mercury in Faversham hitting 95.5F (35.3C).
While forecasts earlier in the week suggested Friday could see the record for the hottest July day broken, the temperature reached only heights of 94.4F (34.7C) found at Tibenham Airfield in Norfolk.
Yellow warnings are in place for most of England into the early hours of Saturday, and in north-east Scotland until 2pm.
But despite this, many have welcomed the torrential showers after weeks of heat and temperatures reaching more than 95F (35C).
Many took to Twitter to express their joy at finally experiencing some rain this British Summer and posted hilarious snaps illustrating their relief that showers have finally hit the UK.
Tweeting a still of the well-known rainy scene in Shawshank Redemption, Owen Cashman wrote: ‘Live pictures of me walking farm right now #drought #rain #shawshank.’
A wild storm can be seen from the window of a Ryanair plane which aborted its landing at the last moment and circled around
Lightning flashed over the Souter lighthouse in South Shields as heavy thunderstorms marked the end of the UK heatwave
After a night of heavy rain and lightning, large waves crash over this lighthouse this morning in Porthcawl, South Wales
Many were caught in the torrential downpours yesterday while travelling from London’s West End by Oxford Circus Station
On the roads, motorists were warned of lightning, flash flooding and large hailstones as the UK’s heatwave came to a close
Torrential downpours were forecast, with as much as 30mm of rainfall in one hour and 60mm in three hours, while large hail, frequent lightning and strong, gusty winds will be additional hazards.
Airports across the UK were left in ‘chaos’ as thunderstorms caused travel delays and cancellations.
Stansted, Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton and Manchester Airport were all heavily impacted by the storms and rainfall, with Gatwick Airport tweeting this morning that ‘adverse weather’ may result in delays and cancellations.
A Stansted Airport spokesman said long queues shown in pictures posted on social media were caused by passengers who stayed overnight in the airport trying to re-book cancelled flights with airlines.
‘There are no cancellations but there are delays because of the knock-on effect and some restrictions because of storm activity in Europe,’ he said.
‘All the advice is, if you are due to travel today, check with your airline about your individual flight.’
London Stansted Airport has seemingly been affected the most by the abrupt end of the UK’s heatwave
Passengers took to social media to complain about the chaos at Stansted Airport after the heavy storms last night