Essex should brace itself for "intense" downpours and thunderstorms according to the latest Met Office weather warning.

From midnight on Wednesday, the county could suffer downpours and thunderstorms with frequent outbreaks of lightning.

The chief forecaster stated: "Southwest England looks like it will be first to see scattered thunderstorms, the threat then expanding northeastwards through the course of the evening.

"Some places will miss the downpours altogether but where they do occur, there is the potential for locally 20 to 30 mm of rain within an hour.

"This may result in surface water flooding, particularly should these amounts fall across urban areas."

Although the thunderstorms may tend to ease from the south later in the night, further severe storms may break out again on Wednesday afternoon.

These appear more likely across central and eastern parts of England.

Frequent lightning may be an additional hazard with potential for disruption to power networks.

Large hail may also be an additional hazard on Wednesday afternoon.

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