THUNDER and lightning could be on the way in Surrey and Hampshire, bringing potential power cuts and travel chaos.

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather alert, warning that slow-moving, thundery showers may lead to torrential downpours across the area between 2pm and 11.50pm on Thursday - with the risk of frequent lightning and flash flooding.

Forecasters believe the likelihood of major storms is low but have warned that if they do arrive the impact will be high.

Some locations could see as much as 40mm of rain in an hour and where this falls on urban areas or main roads it could cause disruption to transport and possibly to power.

The main risk period is during the afternoon and early evening, though a few thunderstorms are likely to rumble on into the night.