The blistering heat of the warmest day of the year so far is set to make way for heavy downpours, as storm clouds make their way across much of the UK.

Tuesday saw Scotland swelter in temperatures that nearly hit 30C in places.

Despite being in the midst of a heatwave, the Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for severe thunderstorms, large hail and strong winds which could lead to flash flooding of homes, businesses and transport networks.

It states that hot, moist air spreading north and north-east is expected to produce thunder storms, with some places seeing around 30mm of rainfall in an hour, and more than 50mm in a few hours.

The warning says: "Whilst most places will miss the worst, please be aware of the risk of localised flash flooding.

"Frequent lightning, large hail and strong winds could be additional hazards.

"All of this could lead to some flooding of homes, businesses and transport networks. Disruption to power is also possible."

Alex Priestley, a Met Office forecaster based in Aberdeen, said: "The highest temperature that we have seen today was 28.3C in Prestwick, Ayrshire.

"Threave in Dumfries and Galloway was 27.8C and Kinlochewe in Wester Ross was 27C.

"In the cities, Glasgow was 26.8C, Aberdeen was 25C and Edinburgh was 24C."

However, he warned Scotland to brace itself for thunder, lightning strikes on power transmitters, hail, gusty winds, flash floods, river flooding, property flooding, surface water and slippery roads, with two bands of heavy rain sweeping in on Wednesday.

He added: "We have been liaising with responder communities and Sepa (Scottish Environment Protection Agency) and they're prepared for dealing with any issues that may arise."