Southern England is being battered by heavy rain and strong winds as a storm moves in from France.
The Met Office has issued a yellow rain warning covering most of the region overnight and into Thursday – meaning those living there could see transport delays, flooding and power issues.
It comes as a low-pressure system named Storm Aurore moves in from France, bringing up to 50mm of rain and 45mph winds in the worst affected areas.
Late on Wednesday, people were already posting dramatic images online.
Becky Mitchell, a Met Office forecaster, told the PA news agency: “We’ve got yellow rain warnings in place which will last for the rest of Wednesday until 3am on Thursday, covering the southern counties and the Channel Islands.
“Heavy and persistent rainfall will fall in the areas covered by the warning, mostly between 15-25mm, but some places will see potentially 30mm or higher along with some rumblings of thunder.
“There’s also likely to be very strong winds, typically around 45mph on the coasts, reaching 70mph in the Channel Islands.
“This may cause some disruption to commuters tomorrow morning, as some places will see some flooding- while the impact of thunder could cause power cuts.”
However, the rest of the UK is likely to remain unaffected and will instead turn “really cold”, with parts of Scotland dropping below 0C due to a cold front moving from the north.
The Met Office says the unsettled weather is likely to continue for the rest of the week, with showers and breezy conditions across western Scotland and and in some areas of central and northern England and Wales on Friday.
Forecasters predict there to be more persistent rain over the weekend, with the heaviest rain expected in western Scotland, where 40-60mm could fall in 24 hours.
Northern Ireland, northern England and Wales, could see up to 20mm of rain could fall over six hours, while southern and central areas will see light rain.