WEATHER warnings are in place for the south east tonight and into Friday with heavy rain showers on the way.

The Met Office has released a yellow warning for the region meaning that residents should be aware of isolated disruption caused by surface water flooding, lightning strikes and hail.

Warnings of heavy rain in the area come after one of the driest summers in decades for the town.

Dr Roger Brugge, a meteorologist at the University of Reading, said: "After a disappointingly cool and wet August, September has proved so far to be dry and warm for much of Britain. High pressure conditions have dominated, keeping Atlantic weather fronts, which are responsible for much of our rain, at bay.

"In fact many places, including Reading, are officially in a meteorological drought - defined as at least 15 days with only negligible rainfall.

"At the University of Reading, weather observations indicate that just 2 mm of rain has fallen, and all of that fell on September 1."