A WEATHER warning by the Met Office has been extended with the threat of thunderstorms now expected to last until Friday evening.

Slow-moving, thundery showers may still lead to torrential downpours across Surrey and Hampshire from 2pm on Thursday - with the risk of frequent lightning and flash flooding.

However, heavy showers and thunderstorms are now expected to develop more widely across central, southern and eastern parts of England during Thursday night and Friday morning, whilst rain spreading from the west may also turn locally heavy and thundery.

Forecasters believe the likelihood of major storms is low but have warned that if they do arrive the impact will be high.

Some locations could see as much as 40mm of rain in an hour and 50mm in a few hours, and where this falls on urban areas or main roads it could cause disruption due to localised flooding and also from lightning strikes, with power cuts also possible.