Torrential downpours have battered the UK, with part of Essex seeing more than an inch of rain in an hour.

A yellow thunderstorm warning was announced for London and the South East, the East of England and the East Midlands, with forecasters saying flooding is likely amid “intense downpours”.

The warning comes after a period of dry weather which has seen drought declared across swathes of England, with parched grass and struggling crops, streams drying up and river, reservoir and aquifer levels low, and hosepipe bans brought in for millions as heatwaves pushed up demand for water.