Flood warnings issued across south as heavy rain predicted for parts of England

Heavy downpours could bring flooding and disruption to parts of England over the next two days, the Met Office has warned.

The weather will be “fairly unsettled” over the next few days, particularly on Sunday and Monday, according to Met Office meteorologist Greg Dewhurst, who urged people to “take care if you are travelling through the day on Sunday across southern counties”.

Persistent rain is also on the cards for London and the South East where a yellow rain warning running from 3pm on Sunday to 9am on Monday suggests widespread downpours ranging from 15mm-25mm and up to 40mm locally.

The warning says: “Rain is expected to arrive across Sussex and Kent during Sunday afternoon, persisting through the night before slowly clearing on Monday morning.”

Mr Dewhurst added: “We are keeping an eye on this area of low pressure as it moves into southern counties of England and Wales over the course of Sunday and into Monday.

“It will bring some heavy rain and some strong winds as well. This rain is falling on saturated ground and could lead to some localised flooding problems.”

Sunday’s temperatures are set to reach around 7C-9C and there should be generally light winds, “but stuck under some cloud and with showers passing through it will feel chillier than the numbers suggest”, particularly across southern areas where double figures are expected, he added.

The rain will push into the South East by the evening.