I was on the M5 heading for Gloucester onto Monmouth around that time, and yes I've not seen a belter like that for a while, the heavy rain brought the traffic to a standstill

Very wet here in the early hours

Clouds may break a little today but that will simply lead to a few showers and storms later

Dark here with heavy bursts of rain with huge raindrops, a thundery feel to things.

some storms over the channel hopley moving my way hope the cool water won't kill them off before they get here . keep you posted  update      i seen 4 flashes or sheet lightling . it seem a small cell surived the crossing of the channel . i hope it remember my larger  from france

Proper old school summer-like morning here. Booming thunder and heavy rain. No wind either

Nice one Dave! Still in a dry corridor here in Kent, but hoping to hear some "natural subwoofer" booms as the day progresses!

One distant rumble about 0730, but yellow sky and HEAVY rain

Well now, there's some impressive development on the nose of the plume across the S Midlands just now.

indeed fella ,V6 radar had Wallingford in Oxfordshire under a powershower rainfall rate almost an hour ago, radio crackling away

I'm very intriguied by the signature of that cell S of Oxford now.
Almost a supercell dynamic in there.

Tell me about it Neil, the rain rate has been astonishing, some of the loudest thunder claps I can remember.

I would focus more on the SE and Essex/Cambridgeshire region this afternoon as diurnal heating could push pockets through at pace. Could promote surface based explosive convection with some rotation. Large hail and maybe a tornado can't be ruled out.

We have missed everything so far, hardly a drop here this morning. Hopefully that will change later

Looks to me like the lobe of warmer air is establishing slightly futher west than some models were indicating last night, Neil, going on the radar returns today.

This PM could indeed spark some action in the areas you mention should we get temps up toward 20c.

Very gloomy here with rain not far away.

Got my eyes on that small cell just exiting the north east French coast. It is making a bee line for Kent but it'll probably fizzle out the moment it dips its toe in the Strait Of Dover.
  It has grown duller after what has been a bright and dry morning.

Update at 12.30 pm: Naa, nothing came out of it, just a few minutes of spitty rain and it is brightening up again.

... SE-UK and the SW North Sea ...

Complex forecast in store, as area of interest resides between a SE-ward moving upper low and a rapidly strengthening depression SW of Ireland. Strongest synoptic lift is forecast before noon. That's the time, where some models push the relicts of dying clusters from the previous night towards SE-UK. Rain with embedded thunderstorms is forecast. As synoptic lift exits to the N around noon, some clearing can take place over SE-UK, where BL dewpoints exceed 10 °C beneath 7 K/km mid-layer lapse rates. This should assist in MLCAPE of 500-800 J/kg. 

Initiation probably awaits a northward moving surface trough, which pushes a weak front to the NE towards Belgium and the E-UK. CI is forecast along a line Le Havre - Reims (France) and to the north around noon. 10-15 m/s DLS may support an isolated large hail threat over SE UK with more discrete storms. Storms tend to grow upscale betimes and a cluster of thunderstorms spreads to the N/NW. Strong wind gusts and heavy rain will be the main hazard. After sunset, the activity becomes more elevated with a decreasing severe risk over the W-North Sea and CNTRL-UK.

http://www.estofex.org/

Just for references sake, heres the long term average for thunder in spring.