Flooding reported across Hampshire, Kent and Sussex as Met Office issues yellow weather warning

People across the South East are being warned of flash flooding as a band of heavy rain sweeps across the region.

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for much of Kent, Sussex and parts of Hampshire and Surrey.

Some areas could see more than 8-16mm of rain fall in an hour, which could lead to flash flooding and disrupt transport services.

Flooding has already been reported across parts of Sussex on Sunday, as heavy rain fell overnight.

Councils say they have teams on standby to respond 'where necessary' and are asking members of the public to only call highways teams in a 'genuine emergency'.

Meanwhile services on the Island Line, which serves passengers on the Isle of Wight, have been suspended due to heavy rain flooding parts of the line between Ryde Esplanade and Shanklin.

South Western Railway said it estimates disruption will continue until 1900.

There's disruption to Southern rail services too, as the operator has suspended trains between Eastbourne and Lewes after the tracks flooded.

Whilst traffic monitoring service, Inrix, reported the A26 at Heron Ghyll was blocked due to flooding, with cars stranded in both directions on the road.

It follows days of heavy rain on already saturated ground, which has led to problems across the region.

Earlier this week motorists reported delays of up to an hour, when Hampshire Highways was forced to install temporary traffic lights around floodwater near to the M3.

The lights remained in place for two days, until specialist equipment could be brought in to clear the blockage.

The weather is set to improve on Sunday evening, with the Met Office saying: "bands of blustery showers, some heavy and perhaps thundery, should move eastwards through all parts later."