Here's a picture as the first storm approached Basingstoke around 8am yesterday. There were some great mid-level skyscapes about

Interesting- here we had quite a lot of thunder between 6.30 and 7pm, some impressive C-C lightning but hardly any rain.  Then about an hour later we had a torrential shower without any thunder at all !  Quite surprised how clear the sky was not long after the last shower.

I can juuuuuuuuuuuuust about make out sheet lightning flickering in the distance over the French coast - once I allowed my eyes to get adjusted to the night time. Probably would have a better view of it if I headed over to Capel.

Good old Estofex are throwing around the high-end warnings today like they are going out of fashion. A level 1 for much of England (classed in the text as a high-end Level 1 that could have been a level 2) with supercells mentioned. Benelux areas get a Level 3 today, with dangerous conditions being talked about...

http://www.estofex.org/

The MetO go for a slightly more sober yellow warning for Eastern England:

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/warnings/#?tab=map&map=Warnings&zoom=5&lon=-3.50&lat=55.50&fcTime=1402268400

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/em/em_forecast_warnings.html

East Midlands under a watch.

Heard some thunder to the SW of here not long ago as a little storm pushed N/NW of here.

Rumbles for around an hour early this morning from a couple of cells that passed by close to the west. High-based activity with that characteristic echoey sound. The ATD radar picking up a lot of CG activity that has been tracking NNE from around the Ross-On-Wye area and now has reached the Wolverhampton area, as Sinky has just mentioned  

Edit .. 10.44 BST CG's now showing around the Uttoxeter and Matlock areas. 

Steady heavy rain here atm 

Hi, Ian! Just had a rumble here! Hopefully you'll get some action and those storms survive the crossing! 

We have thunder in Barnsley with moderate to heavy rain 

James (SC) has pointed out that CAPE in Central France will be 4000 today. That's pretty exceptional and probably explains ESTOFEX issuing a LEVEL 3 warning for that area 

Just had 1 loud clap of thunder! with torrential rain

The French centric Keraunos not messing about with their warnings either. Most severe discussion I've seen since they have been in operation. BTW, some fab pics from the last few days - list of reports in the left side bar.

http://www.keraunos.org/previsions/prevision-orage-tornade-france-convective-outlook.html

Looking to the west/ northwest from here currently, I can see a vast storm cloud - looks incredibly dark in the far distance with a deep blue/purple colour.  Must be a pretty intense storm going on there.  

That has just gone over me, quite intense. Constant rumbles, flashes and heavy downpour. Surface water flooding and still chucking it down

Seen some lightning to the NW from that storm.  Now a new storm is coming in, starting to hear some rumbling thunder and turning very dark again from the SW.   Rain starting.

Wow.  Just had black sky torrential rain, thunder and lightning.  Quite a storm with constant thunder and it's still thundering in the distance.  I can't remember ever hearing thunder last for so long and it sounded like jet planes in the sky at one point but there wasn't as much lightning.  How does it do that when you can't see lightning?

Something really significant is happening just to the SW of me - can see turquoise/ green coloured sky, with low level cloud (scud?) moving from NE to SW, opposite to main flow.  Started to get some impressive lightning flashes and loud cracks of thunder, some in close proximity.

Very turbulent looking sky now.  Sudden arrival of strong breeze.

The sun is out now and we have blue sky above but it's still dark to my East though I can't hear the thunder now.  It must have been a pretty wide system if Snow Fairy got it at the same time as me, as she's probably 20 miles to my North. 

My son sent me a text from work in Shirebrook, about 3 miles to my West as the crow flies.  He said there was a big swirling cloud near him, so that may have been funnel cloud.  I missed it!  Again!!