A yellow weather warning is in place in south Essex today as thunderstorms with heavy rain and hail are likely to develop in some places this afternoon.

The Met Office has issued a weather warning for parts of England and Wales today, which covers south Essex, from 2pm to 9pm.

Forecasters say while many places will be largely dry, thunderstorms with heavy rain and hail are likely to develop in some places on Saturday afternoon.

High temperatures developing across parts of England and Wales on Saturday are expected to trigger a scattering of showers across this area, some of which are likely to be torrential and thundery, bringing 30-40mm in an hour. As well as rain, hail, strong gusts of wind, and lightning will be additional hazards.

Despite all of this, the Met Office says many places in the warning area will remain dry, or only see small amounts of rain, due to the well scattered nature of the heaviest showers.

And it looks like south Essex will be one of these unaffected places, as dry and sunny weather is forecast.

Here is the hour-by-hour forecast for Southend, Basildon, Rochford and Castle Point while the warning is in place:

Southend 

2pm: Sunny day, temperatures reach 24C

3pm: Sunny, temperatures remain at 24C

4pm: Sunny, temperatures remain at 24C

5pm: Sunny and dry, starting to cool down with temperatures of 23C

6pm: Sunny, temperatures of 22C

7pm: Sunny intervals, temperatures of 21C

8pm: Cloudy, temperatures of 20C

9pm: Cloudy, temperatures of 19C

Basildon

2pm: Sunny day, temperatures hit 26C

3pm: Sunny, temperatures remain at 26C

4pm: Sunny and dry, starting to cool down with temperatures of 25C

5pm: Sunny, temperatures of 25C

6pm: Sunny evening, temperatures of 23C

7pm: Sunny intervals, temperatures of 22C

8pm: Sunny intervals, temperatures of 21C

9pm: Sunny intervals, temperatures of 20C

Rochford

2pm: Sunny day, temperatures of 24C

3pm: Sunny and dry, temperatures remain at 24C

4pm: Sunny day, temperatures start to go down with 23C forecast

5pm: Sunny, temperatures of 22C

6pm: Sunny, temperatures of 21C

7pm: Sunny intervals, temperatures of 20C

8pm: Cloudy, temperatures of 19C

9pm: Cloudy, temperatures of 18C

Castle Point

2pm: Sunny day, temperatures reach 25C

3pm: Sunny, temperatures remain at 25C

4pm: Sunny, temperatures remain at 25C

5pm: Sunny, starts to cool down with temperatures of 24C forecast

6pm: Sunny, temperatures of 23C 

7pm: Sunny intervals, temperatures of 22C

8pm: Cloudy, temperatures of 20C

9pm: Cloudy, temperatures of 19C