Parts of the UK are being hit by thunder, lightning and heavy rain as the Met Office issues a yellow weather warning.

The warning is in place until 10pm on Tuesday, and covers much of southern England, East Anglia, and parts of the Midlands.

The Met Office said that “heavy showers and thunderstorms likely to cause some disruption to travel”.

It added that there could be some damage to property caused by flooding.

Met Office spokesperson Stephen Dixon said: “What we see today is some heavy showery rain moving eastward across southern areas that UK.”

“Some of these showers can be quite heavy in nature and and come with associated hail and thunder and lightning for a time as well.”

He said that some parts of the yellow warning area could see 40 millimetres of rain over a three hour period.

“Within this warning area the showers gradually release through the day.

“Some places could see 20 millimetres of rain within an hour, and some places could also see in excess of 40 millimetres over a three-hour period.”

He said that the unsettled weather would continue “for much of the week”.

“On Wednesday, we’ve got low pressure approaching the north-west of Scotland, which is going to introduce some more wet weather, particularly in the west of Scotland and Northern Ireland for a time.”

On Thursday, widespread showers could again be quite heavy.

“Widespread showers are possible on Thursday and some of the showers again could be quite heavy in nature for a time,” he said.

However, he said that the public could expect a “drier” day on Friday.

“Generally, a drier day for many on Friday, albeit largely quite cloudy for many,” he added.