Atherstone: Rise and shine to your new Friday Fourcast

WEEKEND WATCH TAKES WHISTLESTOP LOOK AT WHAT'S IN STORE FROM THE WINDY TO THE WARM

WEATHER PREDICTIONS FOR NEXT FOUR DASYS FROM FRIDAY THROUGH TO MONDAY

WELCOME to Friday Fourcast – the title's the giveaway to a whistlestop look at the weather over the weekend and into Monday.

It gives you a chance to plan your next four days, especially with so much unsettled weather at the moment.

The Met Office has issued yellow thunderstorm warnings until Monday, with the potential for flooding and damage to buildings from lightning and hail.

Storm warnings for Friday cover all parts of England south of York, and the Met Office said lightning and flooding also pose a risk of delays or cancellations to train and bus services, and of road closures and power cuts.

But Atherstone Nub News is bringing you a more localised weather service which you can access from our news platform any time.

So here goes with our first Friday Fourcast:

FRIDAY: You might escape the rain today but watch out for a lightning bolt or the odd rumble of thunder around mid-day. Warmish at 25C tops.

SATURDAY: Cloudy old day with temperatures struggling to reach 20C. Risk of a late evening splash of rain perhaps but another day when you might avoid precipitation altogether.

SUNDAY: Stay under the duvet there's every chance of a thunderstorm at any point of the day and definitely through the evening from 6pm into Monday early doors.

And the really bad news, it's likely to persist most of the day. Bright spot 3pm (with the currant bun making a brief show)

MONDAY: More of the same with rain forecast throughout the day and more of that thunder and lightning until well into the afternoon.

Talking of which, did you know that lightning is one of nature's most recurrent and common spectacles?

Around the world, there are over 3,000,000 flashes every day.

That's around 44 strikes every second.

Trees can often be destroyed by lightning strikes. When lightning hits a tree, it usually travels just below the tree's bark where there is a layer of sap and water.

This layer becomes instantly heated and expands causing the bark to be blasted off the tree and sometimes splitting the wood.

But it can help plants grow

While nitrogen is in the air all around us, for plants to be able to absorb it (a process vital for their growth) they rely on a process called Nitrogen fixation.

Although much of this process is done by bacteria and algae, the extreme heat of a lightning strike causes nitrogen to bond with oxygen to create nitrogen oxides which combine with moisture in the air to fall as rain and water plants with nitrate-rich water.

• If you want to get to keep up with the weather then click here for our Nub News Meteoblue forecast for the week ahead

And remember whatever you've got planned, make sure you're only a click away from the 'town in your pocket' at Nub News