Thunderstorms expected this afternoon

Forecasters have warned that thunderstorms are likely to break out across the South West this afternoon potentially making driving conditions difficult.

The Met office have issued a yellow weather warning due to the risk of localised flooding, in particular surface water flooding, on affected roads.

Scattered heavy showers and thunderstorms are likely to break out across southern parts of England from around 12:45pm and remain until around 8pm this evening.

A chief forecaster at the Met Office said: “A deeply unstable airmass covers much of southern England. As daytime heating gets going, we can expect showers and thunderstorms to break out and to be slow-moving at times, given light winds.

“10-15 mm of rain will occur in less than an hour in places with some 25 mm possible in 3 hours or less. As is usual with these situations, some places will miss the worst of the rain.”

Forecasters also ask that the public be aware of the risk of flooding as well as the potential of hail and lightning in some areas.