The Met Office has issued a warning for heavy rain, thunder and lightning for Dorset for today and tomorrow - but it looks as though the storm is going to pass us by.

A yellow 'be aware' alert for Bournemouth, Poole and the rest of the county is valid from 1am until just before midnight on Thursday. 

Thursday's warning says: "A developing area of heavy and thundery rain is expected to reach southern England during the early hours of Thursday before pushing further northwards during the day.

"There is the potential for torrential downpours in places."

"The public should be aware of a significant risk of localised disruption due to surface water flooding. Lightning and hail are likely to be additional hazards."

The chief forecaster said: "With very warm air being entrained into the system, locally heavy and thundery rain is expected to develop and affect parts of England and Wales during Thursday.

"20 or 30 mm of rain may fall in a relatively short space of time in some places whilst locally in excess of 50 mm is possible in just a few hours."

But Bournemouth and Poole look set to avoid most of the rain and thunder, with a 90% chance of rain before 10am, but then just a 20% chance of rain for the rest of the day.

A second warning has been issued from 12.05am until 11.50pm on Friday.

The Met Office says rain is likely to be both persistent and heavy at times. There is also a risk of thunder, most likely over parts of England and Wales.

There is a "significant risk of very localised disruption to travel due to surface water flooding."

On Friday, there could be in excess of  50mm of rainfall by the end of the day. 

Localised thunderstorms could also develop across the south and east of England during Friday afternoon, with potential for 15-25 mm of rain in just a few hours.