Weather forecasters have warned that conditions caused by heavy rain over the weekend could turn life-threatening, with showers likely to persist into next week

The crack of thunder has been heard over Gloucestershire with the first of three back-to-back weather warnings being issued over the county. Today (Friday, September 20) and Saturday are covered by thunderstorm yellow alerts and Sunday is covered by a rain warning.

A warning of thunderstorms and heavy showers this weekend has been issued for the East of England, though some places will escape the bad weather. The Met Office has issued a yellow warning for Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire for the whole of Saturday, starting shortly after midnight on Friday.

Lancashire is expected to remain mainly dry over the next few days despite thunderstorms battering some parts of the North West. The Met Office has issued two separate yellow weather warnings for large swathes of the country with heavy rain and strong winds expected.

The East Midlands, East of England, London and South East England, North West England, South West England, Wales and the West Midlands will all be affected.