A rare ‘danger to life’ amber weather warning has been issued for parts of England as heavy rain and thunderstorms are expected to batter much of southern Britain in hours.
Half a month’s rain could fall in an hour in some parts of the UK as thunderstorms move across southern England, the Met Office has said.
There is a “small chance” lives could be put at risk, the forecaster said, with an amber warning issued for heavy rain for the Devon and Cornwall border area around Exeter and Dawlish.
A yellow weather warning is also in place for thunderstorms across the south west of England and South Wales is in place until 6pm on Sunday.
A similar warning has been issued for London, the south east and east of England and the East Midlands until 6am on Monday.
In some parts of southern England, it is predicted that 30-40mm of rain, which amounts to at least half the September average of 55-60mm, could fall.
Met Office meteorologist Jonathan Vautrey said the thunderstorms could “turn severe” and bring “gusty winds with quite significant torrential rain”.
He added: “It is certainly worth keeping up to date with the forecast.
