The Met Office has extended its yellow thunderstorm warning, with people in 81 areas urged to prepare an "emergency" kit as "flooding of homes could happen quickly".
Warning details
The warning, in place until 10pm today, says up to three inches of rain could fall across multiple regions, threatening to flood communities and trigger power cuts.
Areas covered
Areas covered by the Met Office warning include Derby, Derbyshire, Leicester, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, Rutland, Bedford, Cambridgeshire, Central Bedfordshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Luton, Norfolk, Peterborough, Southend-on-Sea, Suffolk, Thurrock, Buckinghamshire, Greater London, Kent, Medway, Milton Keynes, Oxfordshire, Windsor and Maidenhead, Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool, Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Halton, Lancashire, Merseyside, Warrington, Bristol, Gloucestershire, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Swindon, Wiltshire, Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend, Caerphilly, Cardiff, Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Gwynedd, Isle of Anglesey, Merthyr Tydfil, Monmouthshire, Neath Port Talbot, Newport, Pembrokeshire, Powys, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Swansea, Torfaen, Vale of Glamorgan, Wrexham, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent, Telford and Wrekin, Warwickshire, West Midlands Conurbation, Worcestershire, East Riding of Yorkshire, Kingston upon Hull, North East Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire, North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and York.
Impact
This is a breaking news story. The warning remains active until 10pm today, with the potential for flooding and power cuts across the affected regions.
