A WEATHER warning is in place for Southampton and Hampshire, with forecasts of potential heavy rains and strong winds.

The Met Office has issued the warning for Thursday morning, with thundery showers expected.

Experts say members of the public should be prepared for the possibility of localised flooding and torrential downpours, and that lightning may be 'an additional hazard'.

The Met Office's chief forecaster said: "An area of low pressure is expected to develop just to the northwest of Spain in the next 12 to 24 hours.

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"This system is then expected to push north across Biscay and into the south of the UK early on Thursday.

"With very warm air entrained into the system, locally heavy and thundery rain is likely to develop as the system pushes across parts of England and Wales; 15 to 30 mm of rain is possible in in 6 to 12 hours, with as much as 50 mm possible very locally by the end of Thursday.

"The development of this system is very complex, and uncertainty in the details of this event is relatively high. As such this warning will be updated in the coming days as confidence increases."