Freak hailstorm hits Birmingham as city braces for five days of rain

Birmingham braced for five days of rain as freak weather event hit city on Sunday afternoon

A freak hail storm hit Birmingham city centre this afternoon, bringing a dramatic end to any sign of good weather for the Bank Holiday. The city ground to a halt just after 2pm as huge hail balls battered the pavements and cars in the bizarre weather event.

Up until this afternoon Birmingham had been settled with patches of rain and cloud, so it was a sudden shift for Brummies, who will have made good use of their umbrellas. Car alarms were heard ringing out across the city as huge hail pellets landed around cars, forming collections of white ice, and videos shared on social media showed the city centre blanketed in icy rain showers.

One supermarket shopper described "loud hail" hitting the roof of the city car park, and having to make a dash into the freak hail storm to get home. And things will only get wetter, with five days of consecutive rain forecasted for Birmingham by the Met Office.

READ MORE: Birmingham hour-by-hour Sunday weather forecast as Met Office alert issued

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The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for Sunday May 26, with slow-moving heavy showers and thunderstorms for much of Sunday, and flooding likely in some parts. Read more on that alert here.

Periods of heavy rain will follow for the rest of the week, until Friday May 31. The Met Office forecast for the rest of the week for Birmingham read: "Staying changeable with periods of rain or showers, heavy at times. Some brighter intervals, especially on Wednesday and Thursday and feeling warm in the sunshine. Rather breezy at times."

Hour-by-hour Sunday Birmingham forecast

• 3pm - 16C
• 4pm - 16C
• 5pm - 15C
• 6pm - 15C
• 7pm - 15C
• 8pm- 14C
• 9pm - 13C
• 10pm - 12C
• 11pm- 12C