Forecasters have warned thunderstorms, torrential downpours and potential flooding are set to hit south Essex today.

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for thunderstorms across the county tomorrow.

The warnings came into force at 10am today and run until midnight, covering the whole of Essex as well as nearly all of southern and central England, plus eastern Wales.

Read more >>> Met Office issues yellow thunderstorm and potential flooding warning for Essex

On what to expect, a spokesman for the Met Office said: "Thunderstorms are likely to break out in some areas, particularly during the afternoon and early evening.

"While most places will probably miss them, where thunderstorms do occur there is a chance that in a few places up to 40 mm of rain could fall in an hour or so and 40 to 60 mm could fall in two or three hours.

"These torrential downpours may be accompanied by frequent lightning, whilst gusty winds and hail may also affect a few places."

Here is the hour-by-hour forecast across Southend, Basildon and Canvey for the period of the warning - according to the Met Office:

Southend

12pm - Winds of 9mph with sunny intervals

1pm – Winds of 8mph, mainly cloudy and 10 per cent chance of rain

2pm – Winds of 8mph with sunny intervals

3pm – Winds of 6mph with sunny intervals

4pm – Winds of 6mph and sunny

5pm – Winds of 8mph with sunny intervals

6pm – Winds of 13mph with sunny intervals

7pm – Winds of 16mph and mainly cloudy

8pm – Winds of 18mph and sunny

9pm - Winds of 17mph and sunny

10pm - Clear night with winds of 18mph

11pm - Partly cloudy with winds of 17mph

12am - Partly cloudy with winds of 16mph

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Basildon

12pm - Winds of 8mph and mainly cloudy

1pm– Winds of 6mph with sunny intervals

2pm– Winds of 9mph, mainly cloudy and 10 per cent chance of rain

3pm – Winds of 9mph, mainly cloudy and 10 per cent chance of rain

4pm – Winds of 8mph and sunny

5pm – Winds of 11mph, mainly cloudy and 10 per cent chance of rain

6pm – Winds of 13mph, cloudy with sunny intervals

7pm – Winds of 13mph, cloudy with sunny intervals

8pm – Winds of 16mph, cloudy with sunny intervals

9pm - Winds of 16mph and sunny

10pm - Clear night with winds of 17mph

11pm - Clear night with winds of 17mph

12am - Partly cloudy with winds of 16mph

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Canvey

12pm - Winds of 13mph and mainly cloudy

1pm– Winds of 13mph and mainly cloudy

2pm– Winds of 11mph, mainly cloudy with 10 per cent chance of rain

3pm – Winds of 9mph and sunny intervals

4pm – Winds of 7mph and sunny

5pm – Winds of 9mph and sunny

6pm – Winds of 12mph with 30 per cent chance of light shower

7pm – Winds of 12mph and sunny

8pm – Winds of 16mph with sunny intervals

9pm - Winds of 18mph and sunny

10pm - Clear night with winds of 18mph

11pm - Clear night with winds of 17mph

12am - Clear night with winds of 16mph