A weather warning is in place across Essex today with forecasters warning about the prospect of flooding.

The Met Office says the yellow warning is place in place until 9pm today as heavy rain sweeps across the county.

It says flooding is possible and delays to bus and rail services are likely.

Essex had not previously been covered by the warning but was added after a band of rain moved south-eastwards.

Much of the UK basked in sweltering sunshine at the start of the month.

But grey skies and temperatures in the late teens hailed the end of summery weather towards the middle of the month.

Cars were captured ploughing through floodwater on Tower Bridge in central London beneath a blanket of clouds on Tuesday morning.

The capital is predicted to be one of the worst-hit areas in terms of rainfall in the morning, with up to 25mm of water predicted to lash London.

Met Office meteorologist Annie Shuttleworth said some areas covered by the warning could see 40mm of rain.

She added that the rain is set to ease in the south on Tuesday afternoon, with a “low risk” of thunderstorms to follow.

Ms Shuttleworth said: “We have seen the main body of rain move further north throughout the morning, and the rain will persist for the longest in north-eastern parts of England.”

She added that Wednesday will bring drier weather across the UK, which is set to stay fairly settled with patchy sunshine predicted throughout the coming days.

Ms Shuttleworth said that the long-range forecast for September is uncertain, but forecasters expect temperatures across the UK to be slightly higher than average for the time of year.