More wet weather is forecast to follow this week after thunder and lightning was joined by a freakish hail storm sweeping across south London yesterday.

The weather in London has certainly been unpredictable in recent days, with hail storms, thunder and lightning and heavy downpour punctuated by spells of sunshine.

An after weeks of downpour and stormy weather, May 2021 could become one of the UK's wettest on record, and the Met Office has predicted a matching end to the month.

Rainy weather is set to continue, with a high probability of rain for the both Saturday and Sunday in the capital, although sunnier weather is reportedly on the horizon.

But yesterday say the mother of hail storms strike in both south and north London, with pea-sized balls of ice falling inhigh velocity.

Photographs showed hail falling so hard in the streets of London that the ground looked like it was covered in snow, while others parts of the South East were also hit with heavy rain.

Residents have been reacting to the freakish downpour on social media, and sharing photos of the results.

One London resident and journalist Henrietta Knight claimed it was a "Biblical storm in London."

She tweeted: "Torrential rain, thunder and lightning. Very, very frightening indeed!"

The weather may force Londoners to further take advantage of the new lockdown freedoms, allowing groups of up to six to mix indoors inside indoor hospitality venues such as pubs and restaurants.

Large parts of the UK were also affected, and hit by both torrential rain and hail.

And forecasters are warning more wet weather and high winds are expected later in the week.

The Met Office said that the country will continue to see showers through Wednesday, but on Thursday high winds and further rain could lead to weather warnings being imposed.

Met Office meteorologist Craig Snell said that the heaviest rain on Tuesday had fallen in the South East, with 16mm recorded over 12 hours in Goudhurst in Kent.

He added that a deep band of unseasonable low pressure will bring more wet and windy weather locally on Thursday and Friday, with some coastal areas and other areas of the UK likely to be hit with 60mph gusts.

Mr Snell said that while no weather warnings were currently in force, the Met Office will keep a close watch on conditions.

He added: "We are keeping a very close eye on it, I don't think any warnings will be issued today but there's a possibility as we go into tomorrow."

This month could be one of the wettest Mays on record, surpassing 1967, when 131.7mm of rain fell across the UK.

Mr Snell said that while it was too early to predict if May will break any records, it had already been a "wetter than average month", with 70mm of rainfall in UK up to Monday.

He added: "We have had a wetter than average May, we can safely say that.

"It's certainly going to end up being quite a wet month."

Today (May 19), the Met Office forecasts sunny intervals changing into rain by lunchtime, with a similar pattern on Thursday.

Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

Friday is expected to contain steady light rain, whilst Saturday and Sunday will both be a mix of overcast and showers.

Despite the rubbish weather, temperatures will remain mild, and will slowly start creeping up into the higher teens as weather looks to improve next week, and Accuweather are even predicting a mini-heatwave to hit London in early June.