There is a 'yellow' warning for rain covering the whole of Cheshire due to the possibility of thunderstorms.

Cheshire West and East, Warrington and Halton are included in the warning from the Met Office which is in operation across most of the country from 11am today (Thursday, May 31) until 9am on Friday (June 1).

A yellow warning is the lowest level, rising in severity through amber to red for the most severe weather.

And a more serious amber warning of rain is in place for south east and west England, Wales and the West Midlands.

The warning states: “Thunderstorms will continue to move northwards into southern and some eastern parts of England during Thursday morning, with further heavy showers and thunderstorms developing across a wider area during the course of the afternoon and evening, lasting through the night across parts of the West Midlands, southwest England and Wales.

“Any thunderstorms over eastern England and the north Midlands will move through relatively quickly, but further south and west, they could become slow moving and lead to torrential rain in some places. There is the potential for 30-40 mm of rain to fall in an hour and perhaps as much as 60-80 mm in 2-3 hours. As well as this, frequent lightning and large hail are possible.”