A yellow weather warning for heavy showers and thunderstorms has been issued by the Met Office which advises that flooding and damage could be caused by storms.
An area from Dorset to Kent, stretching as far north as Worcester and across to East Anglia, is covered by the warning which was listed to last until 10pm on Tuesday but has now been extended until 3am on Wednesday.
A second yellow warning of heavy rain has also been issued for parts of County Down and Armagh in Northern Ireland until 5pm on Tuesday.
The Met Office has warned that driving conditions could be affected by spray, standing water and hail, leading to longer car and bus journey times.
It has also advised of the likelihood of “some flooding of a few homes and businesses, leading to some damage to buildings or structures, especially across the south-east of the area where highest rainfall i most likely”.
And the forecasters have also advised of the possibility of damage to buildings from lightning strikes, causing possible delays to train services and causing short-term power loss.
Meteorologist Liam Eslick said: “We are looking to see quite a lot of rainfall with 20mm-30mm in two to three hours but there could be some very heavy bursts with 40mm-50mm falling over a longer period of time.
“We are expecting to see not just rain, we are expecting some hail and quite a lot of thunder, a lot of these showers could turn thundery as they combine together and become larger systems.
“So we are expecting thundery outbreaks and quite gusty conditions, it’s a pretty hefty system across the south.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here