More stormy weather is in the forecast a day after parts of Britain were hit by torrential rain, lightning and hail.Meanwhile, hundreds of people already forced from their homes by last week's devastating floods were told it would take another three or four days to pump the water away.
Rush-hour commuters had to make their way home through hail storms as thunder and lightning swept across southern counties of England.
Two teenagers were taken to hospital with serious burns after being struck by lightning.
The girls, aged 13 and 15, suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the incident at Ipswich High School, in Woolverstone, near Ipswich, at around 4pm.
A spokesman for the East of England Ambulance Service said the force of the strike had "blown apart'' the girls' shoes.
"They were both struck simultaneously, presumably by the same bolt of lightning,'' said the spokesman.
"They both had entry and exit wounds on their arms and feet.''
The girls, who remained conscious throughout, are being treated in hospital, the spokesman added.
Some areas of southern England saw nearly 7mm of rain fall in an hour and drivers were warned to take care on roads as standing water could prove hazardous.
Hundreds of fans who crammed into London's Leicester Square for the European premiere of Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix received a drenching as thunderstorms raged overhead.
Stephen Davenport, senior forecaster for MeteoGroup UK, the weather division of the Press Association, said several bands of showers moved eastwards throughout the day in a line from Humberside in the north to the Bristol Channel in the south.
Areas in Yorkshire that were badly hit by last week's flooding escaped the worst of the rain but householders were still facing the prospect of yet another night in temporary accommodation.
Doncaster Council said even more high-volume pumps have been brought in to the affected areas of the town which were inundated a week ago when the River Don burst its banks.
But despite firefighters from 26 services around the UK removing 346 million litres of water per day, the Environment Agency estimates there is still about 1.8 million cubic metres of water in the area.
Doncaster's elected mayor, Martin Winter, said he was told by the agency that the Toll Bar area would take three to four more days to drain.
Mr Winter said: "The water only appears to be decreasing gradually, but I want to emphasise to residents the enormous scale of this operation not only on the ground, but co-ordination from behind the scenes.
"We are succeeding slowly but surely in the reduction of water in Toll Bar and will soon be pumping out 240,000 litres a minute.''
Transco announced today that at least 200 homes in the Toll Bar area were without gas.
The supply will not be able to be restored until the floodwaters recede enough to enable the work to be carried out by Transco.
There was further evidence that the flooding threat was far from over, with reports of flash flooding in the Skipton area of North Yorkshire.
Firefighters were called to reports of rising water in the village of Low Bradley and a number of key routes in the area were experiencing standing water.
Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said spending on flood risk management and defences would rise from £600 million to £800 million in 2010-11.
In an update on the flooding to the Commons Tuesday, Mr Benn told MPs that more than 300 people remained in temporary shelters and the floods would have a "continuing impact for some months to come''.
Mr Benn said at least 3,500 properties were flooded when rivers in Yorkshire, Humberside, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire burst their banks.
Insurers said the cost of the damage across the UK is expected to top £1 billion, with 27,000 homes and 5,000 businesses affected.
It was also announced that Prime Minister Gordon Brown has agreed Local Government Minister John Healey will coordinate the Government's contribution to recovery from the recent floods.
Mr Healey said: "We want to see communities, householders and businesses hit by the floods return to normal as rapidly as possible.
"I will make sure that central government brings a relentless focus to support the local recovery efforts and ensure that all of those involved play their full part.
"This will help ensure we move from a fully coordinated emergency response effort to a fully coordinated support for the recovery effort.''
While the Met Office has lifted its severe weather warning for England and Wales, forecasters are warning of more downpours to come.
Mr Davenport said: "There will be a fair few heavy showers around [Wednesday]. On Thursday, there will be rain coming in from the south west.''
He said the weather would remain unsettled for the foreseeable future with no long, dry, warm spells on the horizon.
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