THE risk of thunderstorms and torrential rain will continue over the next few days, but there will also be sunny spells.

Both yellow and amber National Severe Weather Warnings for rain have been issued for today.

A yellow warning for rain covering central and southern England and all of Wales is in place  as areas of heavy rain and thunderstorms continue to develop. 

Met Office Chief Meteorologist Andy Page said: “It is expected the storms will merge together to produce a larger more persistent area of thunderstorms over parts of the South West, central southern England and the southern half of Wales. About 30-40 mm of rain is possible in an hour here with a good chance as much as 60-80 mm rain could fall within three hours in some places. As well as this, frequent lightning and large hail are possible.

“This could result in flash flooding, transport delays and dangerous driving conditions, especially on the M4 and M5."

The Environment Agency said the main risk of flooding will be in the Western counties. 

Highways England reminded everyone to drive safely in wet conditions. 

The risk of scattered heavy showers and thunderstorms tends to diminish over the weekend, with any activity being restricted to northern Britain.

Away from the thunderstorms, there will be plenty of fine weather with most areas seeing some sunshine over the next few days, although low cloud could continue to affect the eastern coastal areas.

Beyond the weekend, there will be a good deal of fine weather around, with the best of the sunshine in the west.