In Pictures: Umbrellas at the ready as dry weather gives way to downpours

PA Wire

Torrential downpours have battered the UK, with part of Essex seeing more than an inch of rain in an hour.

A yellow thunderstorm warning was announced for London and the South East, the East of England and the East Midlands, with forecasters saying flooding is likely amid “intense downpours”.

The warning comes after a period of dry weather which has seen drought declared across swathes of England, with parched grass and struggling crops, streams drying up and river, reservoir and aquifer levels low, and hosepipe bans brought in for millions as heatwaves pushed up demand for water.

Commuters shelter beneath umbrellas while crossing a bridge over the canal in Paddington, west London (Peter Clifton/PA) (PA Wire)

Hunter, a long haired dachshund, enjoyed the puddles at the Ingrebourne Valley Nature Reserve in Rainham (Ian West/PA) (PA Wire)

His owners Mia West, 11, and Jack West, 7, shared in the splashy fun in appropriately named Rainham in Kent (Ian West/PA) (PA Wire)

People walk alongside canals in Little Venice, London (James Manning/PA) (PA Wire)

Wembley Way in north-west London (James Manning/PA) (PA Wire)

A coot enjoys the change in the weather in Paddington (Peter Clifton/PA) (PA Wire)

Ealing Broadway station in west London (James Manning/PA) (PA Wire)

Driving conditions will potentially be affected by spray, standing water and even hail (James Manning/PA) (PA Wire)

People walk alongside canals in Little Venice, west London (James Manning/PA) (PA Wire)