Sun and storms all this week

Torrential downpours and thunderstorms hit the region at the weekend leaving people in hospital, homes flooded and vehicles stranded.

One teenager was struck by lightning and a nine-year-old girl trapped in an overflowing drain. Although temperatures today were set to rise to 26C (78F), there was more than four inches of rain fell over the weekend in parts of the region.

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The downpours left a coachload of Brownies stranded on a busy road, ambulances flooded at Dudley's Russells Hall Hospital and scores of homes and gardens submerged, forcing residents to use emergency sandbags.

But while some parts of the Black Country and Staffordshire suffered, others basked in blue skies and sunshine. Forecasters said today the varied landscape of the region resulted in extreme weather from one area to another.

The Met Office is predicting daytime temperatures of 32C (90F) this week and evening temperatures of 18C (64F), prompting warnings of heat stroke, exhaustion and dizziness. A 17-year-old boy suffered a heart attack on Saturday afternoon after being struck by lightning in Small Heath Park in Birmingham. He was rushed to Heartlands Hospital in a critical but stable condition. A second teenage boy had convulsions from the lightning and another four boys suffered minor injuries.

In Tipton, nine-year-old Courtney Corbett was trapped waist-deep in water for two hours after her leg became stuck in a drain in Waterloo Street. The Corpus Christi Primary School pupil fell into the drain while playing with friends and had to be cut from the grid by firefighters.

The heavy rain also left a coachload of Brownies and Rainbows stranded on the Birmingham New Road after a day out at Dudley Zoo. The coach broke down in 2ft of water on the busy road, leaving the 49-strong group trapped on board for 45 minutes. Flood waters caused thousands of pounds of damage in homes in Coseley and Perton, where families were forced to protect their homes with emergency sandbags. Fire crews also had to pump out the ambulance bay at Russells Hall Hospital.

But Met Office forecaster Helen Chivers today told the Express & Star the worst of the rain was over and the rest of the week would see blistering sunshine and high temperatures. The Met Office has now issued its first heat health alert in three years ahead of this week's heatwave.

In Wednesbury, more than six residents of Gloucester Road on the Friar Park estate were affected by flooding, which brought sewage out into the road. Angry householders said they were unable to shower or flush their toilets since 2pm on Friday because waste water was rising up from the sewers.