Thunderstorms have battered Britain today causing mayhem on runways, roads and train-lines, while flash floods have caused schools to shut - and now ominous twister clouds have began to fill the sky.
An impressive funnel cloud was spotted spinning its way across the British countryside near Camelford, Cornwall, as the Met Office issued warning for thunder, lightening and hail across several regions in the UK.
Footage shows the formation twisting over the Cornish hills, with onlookers claiming it looked 'very tornado-ey' while a spokesperson for Kernos Weather Team added: 'This is a funnel cloud but can't be sure if touched the ground to be a tornado.'
Chaos caused by the ongoing storms is likely to continue into the afternoon, with a chance of flash floods affecting homes and businesses. It comes as temperatures are set sizzle once again in a 30C heatwave over the weekend.
Floodwaters on the road earlier today caused parts of the M6 near Coventry to close down, while in Bedfordshire schools have been forced to send pupils home for the day as their grounds became submerged by murky rainwater.
Meanwhile train services in the south of the country have been particularly affected, with the extreme weather causing disruption to Southern and Thameslink trains in East and West Sussex.
Yellow weather warnings have been put in place for all of south England, parts of the Midlands, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It comes after some areas had half a month's worth of rain in just one hour, causing chaos on the roads.
This morning National Rail said there was disruption to Southern, Thameslink, Gatwick Express and Great Northern services. Trains are also unable to run directly from Lewes causing diversions through Brighton.
Track flooding in the Littlehaven area has also caused delays to services running from Crawley to Horsham.
The M6 between Junction 2 and Junction 3 near Coventry was forced to shut so Highways England could clear floodwaters on the road.
And in Bedfordshire Manshead Academy has closed its doors and sent pupils home after their school grounds were flooded.
In Brighton, drains and sewers were seen overflowing as the rain set in. Dramatic footage showed water gushing out on to the street and moving down the road at a fast pace.
The rain showers will move northeastward reaching Scotland later in the day. In between the storms, weather will remain humid with intervals of sunshine, the Met Office said.
A flood alert has been put in place for the East Midlands and East of England, with warnings that some land, roads and properties may flood.
The Met Office said: 'Dry with some bright spells at first, but clouding over during the morning with an area of rain or showers moving north, some heavy and possibly thundery, before clearing later. Maximum temperature 22 °C.'
As the week continues, the intensity and duration of showers will gradually decrease, with fewer showers being seen on Wednesday and Thursday.
By Friday the public can expect sweltering temperatures once again, with the Met Office predicting 'dry and very warm' weather for most regions. Some rainy patches are expected across Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Stephen Dixon, spokesman for the Met Office, said yesterday: 'By Friday there's some possibility of rain in Northern Ireland, the west of England, it will be generally drier in the South East.
'The weekend could get up to the high 20s or low 30s, the South East will see the warmer weather.
'The week will be sitting relatively warmer for this time of year but more subdued than we've seen, but areas will hit heatwave criteria as we get to the weekend.'
The sizzling temperatures over the last two weeks have made this June Britain's hottest start to the month since 1976. On June 10 the hottest temperature of the year so far was recorded in Surrey hitting 32.2C.
Despite the heavy rainfall expected, it is unlikely to be enough to sufficiently replenish hosepipe bans in place for 1.3 million people in South East England.
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