Thunderstorm warning for South East for weekend

The Met Office yellow warning is in place for Kent, Sussex and Surrey from Friday evening

A weather warning for thunderstorms and heavy downpours is set to come in force across south-east England.

The Met Office yellow warning will be in place for Kent, Sussex and Surrey from 21:00 BST on Friday until 18:00 on Saturday.

It comes as temperatures look set to top 30C (86F) again across southern England on Friday.

Jason Kelly, Met Office chief meteorologist, said: "More warnings could be issued for the weekend and early next week."

The Met Office said there was a risk of sudden flooding and lightning strikes causing transport delays and power cuts.

Forecasters are warning that spray and flooding could lead to difficulties for drivers, possible road closures, and the risk that some communities may become cut off as a result.

Damage to homes and businesses is also possible from adverse weather conditions.

On Sunday, the heavy showers are expected to continue, moving northwards throughout the day.

Alex Burkill, a meteorologist at the Met Office, warned that the high temperatures could become "quite uncomfortable" in some parts of the country.

Dover witnessed flash flooding in June after thunderstorms

He said: "As we go into the weekend, with the heat and the humidity, there's a fairly strong chance that we are going to see some heavy, thundery rain, feeding up from the south."

The hardest hit communities could see well over a month's worth of rain falling in the space of a few hours leading to a significant risk of disruption, the Met Office said.

Areas of east Kent suffered dramatic thunderstorms in June, with some places, like Dover, seeing flash flooding.

The storm warning on Friday comes on the same day as a hosepipe ban is introduced by South East Water across large swathes of Kent and Sussex.

Additional reporting by PA Media.

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