HEAVY rain left much of Dorset soaked on Wednesday afternoon.

The Met Office had predicted the downpours, which were caused by a passing area of “complex low pressure”.

A yellow 'be aware' alert remains in force and is valid until 7am on Thursday for the whole of the county. 

The showers proved to be at their most intense between 2pm and 6pm and were accompanied with strong gusts of wind.

Poole was the worst affected, with the overflowing water at Branksome Chine gardens submerging bins and leaving walkers drenched.

Bournemouth’s Central Gardens quickly experienced some localised flooding with a short burst of heavy rain early in the afternoon before turning into lighter showers.

The banks of the Bourne Stream, however, on the whole managed to cope with the downpours and there was no repeat of the flash flooding it endured in July.

 

Bournemouth Echo:

 

 


The Met Office warned some localised flooding may occur with a chance of travel disruption: "Some localised flooding is possible from fast responding water courses and standing water."

 

A spokesperson for the Met Office said: "Rain will arrive into southern areas Wednesday morning, before spreading to the rest of the warning area through Wednesday afternoon and into Thursday.

"Rain should ease from the south during the day, though some heavy and thundery showers may develop across the southeast and East Anglia through the afternoon and evening.

"Most parts of the warning area should see 15-30 mm of rain, however some places could see as much as 40-70 mm."

The weather is expected to improve on Thursday, with a day of sunny spells and just a few couple of scattered showers forecast.