This map shows where the heaviest rain is expected to fall - watch out for flash flooding.

Bin lorries, art installations and roses have all emerged as victims of political "purdah" - the 28-day moratorium before a vote. "Purdah" guidelines mean council staff cannot campaign for one party to win - but which councils have taken it to the extreme?

Members of the rock band Led Zeppelin have appeared in court to deny borrowing from another song for their 1971 hit Stairway To Heaven.

Guitarist Jimmy Page and Black Country-born singer Robert Plant are expected to give evidence at the civil case in Los Angeles.

They are accused of lifting the song's opening notes from Taurus, a 1967 track by the band Spirit.

Page, 72, and Plant, 67, are being sued by a trust acting for a founding member of Spirit who died in 1997.

Image source, Reuters

Patrick Burns
Political editor, Midlands

In just over a week, thousands of us will take to the polls to vote on whether to leave or stay in the European Union.  

And all this week I've been taking a road trip through the heart of Britain to gauge the mood on the streets.

Find out what I've found in my latest stop on Midlands Today this evening on BBC One - at the slightly earlier time of 18:25.

The weather for the West Midlands.

Worcestershire's One-Day Cup match against Leicestershire at New Road is abandoned after heavy rain.

Tornado-like shapes called funnel clouds have been forming in skies above the West Midlands.

These images were captured yesterday by Matthew Lee Hancox in Shrewsbury, Helen Vann in north Rugby and Robert Brooker, east of Coventry. And earlier today, Jason Mason Burns, near Droitwich, spotted the same meteorological phenomenon.  

Tornado-like shapes called funnel clouds have been forming in skies over Shrewsbury, Rugby, Coventry and Droitwich. These images were captured by Matthew Lee Hancox in Shrewsbury on Tuesday; Helen Vann in north Rugby; Robert Brooker, east of Coventry, on Tuesday; and Jason Mason Burns, near Droitwich, around 10:30 on Wednesday.

A father and son have been jailed for stealing 17 caravans and transit vans from locations across the Midlands including Warwickshire, Staffordshire and Worcestershire, police say, external.

The haul, amassed by Coventry men Seamus and David McDonagh, was part of a criminal operation that stole vehicles worth £250,000. Police said investigating officers, using street cameras, saw 16 occasions when a vehicle owned by Seamus McDonagh was in a motorway convoy with stolen caravans. 

Image source, Warwickshire Police

Seamus McDonagh, 57, was sentenced to six years imprisonment for conspiracy to steal caravans, along with conspiracy to steal from motor vehicles while on court bail. His son David McDonagh, 36, was given a nine-year prison sentence for conspiracy to steal caravans, conspiracy to steal motor vehicles, robbery, plus conspiracy to steal from motor vehicles - also while on court bail.

Another Coventry man who was part of the group, Seamus McGuire, aged 25, was sentenced to eight years for conspiracy to steal motor vehicles and robbery. All three - found guilty after a two-and-a-half-week trial - were sentenced last Friday. 

Daniel Wainwright
Data unit - English regions

Unemployment in the West Midlands rose in the past three months, external, according to official figures.

The total increased to 159,000 in the February-to-April period, up by 7,000 from the previous quarter, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

A mother from Hereford is warning parents about a so-called 'choking game' after her 10-year-old son died.

BBC Travel

The A449 Worcester Road in Ledbury, Herefordshire, is closed at the B4216 New Street junction, because of a crash.

Follow ball-by-ball BBC local radio commentary from Wednesday's action in the One-Day Cup.

The weather for the West Midlands.

Worcester Wolves director of basketball Paul James admits the club may struggle to keep key forward Perris Blackwell.

A man who attacked and raped two women in Worcester is jailed for 15 years and three months.

The wet weather looks set to continue for the next few days.

Afternoon weather forecast for the West Midlands

Former Southampton, Hereford United and Republic of Ireland defender Tony Byrne dies at the age of 70.

The Environment Agency says despite the risk of isolated property flooding and disruption to travel there is a low flood risk , externalfor the next few days.