Flash floods hit the south-east

A weekend of heavy rain showers is forecast for London as gloomy weather fronts sweep across the country from the Continent.

A dry clear night is expected to give way to long spells of wet weather by tomorrow evening.

According to forecasters, some parts of London could see as much as half an inch of rain fall in a 12-hour period and rural areas on the fringes of urban areas could see flooding as river levels rise.

A spokesman for the Met Office said: "There will be a lot of rain coming in tomorrow night from the West and South-West.

"The heavy showers will begin late on Saturday evening and hang around for quite a long time.

"It could still be pretty wet on Sunday morning."

The spokesman added: "With the rain that we have had already this week, the weekend downpours could exacerbate the situation. Some river levels are already high."

The amounts of rain forecast are "not unusual" for January, the Met Office added.

"It is a significant amount but it is not extraordinary," a spokesman said. "There are many winter rainfall events of a similar nature recorded."

Although there will be more rain next week, the milder temperatures will be far higher than the freezing conditions seen last month, which the Met Office said was the coldest December since 1973.