A warning has been issued for heavy showers and thunderstorms in the North East today.
The Met Office has sent out a yellow warning for the region, running between 1pm and 8pm on Wednesday. Weather experts say thunderstorms could cause some disruption to travel and driving conditions may be affected by spray, standing water and/or hail, leading to longer journey times by car and bus.
Delays are also possible to train services, and there could be lightning strikes. The warning covers the whole of the North East, including County Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle, North Tyneside, Northumberland, South Tyneside and Sunderland.
Read More: Hour-by-hour Met Office forecast shows North East set for wet week to continue
A spokesperson for the Met Office said: "Scattered heavy showers and thunderstorms will develop through this afternoon across much of central and eastern areas of Scotland, parts of central, eastern and southeastern England and southern areas of Northern Ireland, before easing during the evening.
"Where heavy showers develop, 15mm of rain could fall within an hour and possibly 25-30mm in 2-3 hours where showers become slow moving, along with lightning and hail."
Here's the five-day Met Office weather forecast for the North East.
Wednesday:
Early mist and fog patches soon clearing to leave another day of sunny spells and scattered showers, these will be heavy, slow-moving and possibly thundery in places, with the risk of hail. Light winds. Temperatures will be around average. Maximum temperature 17°C.
Wednesday night:
Any showers will gradually fade this evening to leave a largely dry night, with clear spells developing. Some mist and fog patches forming in places by dawn. Locally chilly. Minimum temperature 4°C.
Thursday:
Any early mist patches soon clearing to leave a day of sunshine and scattered, heavy and slow-moving, showers, possibly thundery. Light winds. Temperatures near average. Maximum temperature 18 °C.
Outlook for Friday to Sunday:
Cloudy with some drizzle on Friday and feeling cool. Mostly fine and dry, with sunny spells on Saturday, although cloudier along the coast. Rain will move erratically southeastwards on Sunday.
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