Thundery rain could bring flooding and power cuts to parts of UK as yellow weather warning in place

Heavy and thundery rain could bring flooding and power cuts to parts of the UK on Sunday as a yellow weather warning covers the southern half of the country.

There may also be travel disruption in some areas after a band of wet weather moved further inland from coastal areas, the Met Office said.

The forecaster has issued a yellow weather warning for rain, covering almost the whole of southern and central England up to South Yorkshire and all southern Welsh counties, which remains in place until 6pm on Sunday.

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Rainfall amounts will vary considerably on Sunday, with some areas seeing 40-60mm of rain and some spots potentially set for up to 80-100mm, with the latter more probable in the southern half of the warning area, the Met Office said.

Further warning updates could be issued on Sunday, including an escalation to amber on a more localised scale.

It comes after three consecutive days of heavy rain, starting on Thursday, lashed different areas of southern England and Wales.

The Environment Agency had issued 17 flood alerts, meaning flooding is possible, across Devon, Cornwall and the East Midlands as of Saturday evening.

It added that much of southern and central England was at low risk of flooding impacting on properties and causing travel disruption.

Met Office chief meteorologist Matthew Lehnert said: "Further spells of rain are likely to affect southern Britain this weekend, generating some localised impacts on Saturday night and Sunday.

"It's a different story further north though, as high pressure brings warmer and sunnier conditions, with higher-than-average temperatures, particularly across parts of western Scotland.

"Eastern areas are likely to be cooler and at times cloudier due to winds blowing off the North Sea.

"We are keeping warnings under review and will look to issue them over the weekend as confidence increases."

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Some sunshine is likely to develop in the South East on Sunday but this will be offset by further slow-moving thunderstorms.

Lengthy sunny and dry spells are still expected further north in a continuation of recent days, but conditions will be turning cloudier and more mild.

The showers will continue to move in a northwesterly direction while spells of heavy rain will affect many central and southern areas.

Cooler, fresher temperatures are widely expected across the country into next week with a generally unsettled outlook, the forecaster added.