Met Office expands weather warning amid flood concerns - full list of areas affected

The Met Office has expanded the areas affected by a yellow weather warning for rain it first issued on Thursday. The alert has been in place since August 28 at 10pm, and will last until 12pm today, August 29.

The new warning read: "Heavy showers and longer spells of heavy rain may bring some disruption to transport and infrastructure." Flooding of some homes and businesses, it added, is "likely", and roads could also be affected by the heavy rain. The spell of heavy rain is set to move from the west to the east of the country on Friday, bringing lots of precipitation to some places.

The Met Office said: "Whilst not everywhere will see the heavy showers or rain, where they do occur 10-20 mm of rain in less than an hour is possible. 50-70 mm of rain is possible in a few hours where heavy showers become more prolonged, this most likely near coasts. Some flooding in these wetter areas is possible.

"A few showers could be accompanied by the odd rumble of thunder, again this more likely near to coasts. Heavy showers and rain should clear into the North Sea by early afternoon."

The bad weather is being caused by the fallout from two powerful storms from across the Atlantic Ocean.

Hurricane Erin hit the east coast of the US and Canada last week after first descending on the Caribbean. Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Fernand has remained over the Atlantic and posed little risk to land. While both have been downgraded as they weaken, they will still send low pressure systems towards the UK in the coming days, causing unsettled weather.

Met Office meteorologist Alex Burkill explained that the low pressure centres are interacting with the Jet stream. This is a column of air high up in the atmosphere that causes changes in wind and pressure at that level. The effects of this are then felt nearer the surface.

He said: "It looks like these low pressure centres are going to get closer towards the jet stream as they push their way across the Atlantic, then a sort of new feature is going to develop with these low pressures joining it and all amalgamating together. That low pressure system is going to run across the jet stream, get a but more oomph ... and then make its way towards us as a relatively deep layer of low pressure."

This is set to bring "unseasonable" weather, Mr Burkill added.

The Met Office has also issued invaluable advice to those in the areas affected by the heavy downpours. On their website, they wrote: "Check if your property could be at risk of flooding. If so, consider preparing a flood plan and an emergency flood kit.

"Give yourself the best chance of avoiding delays by checking road conditions if driving, or bus and train timetables, amending your travel plans if necessary. People cope better with power cuts when they have prepared for them in advance. It's easy to do; consider gathering torches and batteries, a mobile phone power pack and other essential items.

"Be prepared for weather warnings to change quickly: when a weather warning is issued, the Met Office recommends staying up to date with the weather forecast in your area."

East of England

• Cambridgeshire
• Central Bedfordshire
• Essex
• Hertfordshire
• Luton
• Southend-on-Sea
• Suffolk
• Thurrock

London & South East England

• Bracknell Forest
• Brighton and Hove
• Buckinghamshire
• East Sussex
• Greater London
• Hampshire
• Isle of Wight
• Kent
• Medway
• Oxfordshire
• Portsmouth
• Reading
• Slough
• Southampton
• Surrey
• West Berkshire
• West Sussex
• Windsor and Maidenhead
• Wokingham

South West England

• Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole
• Dorset
• Wiltshire