DORSET is on flood alert this weekend after a yellow weather warning for rain was issued by the Met Office.

The area faces a summer soaking on Saturday with thundery rain expected to start falling early in the morning, with showers unlikely to ease off until the evening.

The public should be aware of the potential for localised flooding due to the intensity of the downpours although the location of the heaviest rainfall remains uncertain, the Met Office said.

Met Office spokesman Dan Williams said the downpours will be ''pretty heavy''.

He said: ''We are looking at the potential for some localised flooding because they are potentially heavy enough that we could see so much rain fall in a short space of time that it can't drain away fast enough.''

Regions where yellow ‘be aware’ warnings for rain are currently in place include the South West.

The Environment Agency said: ''Heavy rain with isolated torrential downpours may bring some river and surface water flooding on Saturday across all of England, except for Devon and Cornwall, and all of Wales, except for Pembrokeshire.''

The predicted deluge is down to warm, humid air moving in from Europe which creates a risk of downpours when it mixes with cooler air over the UK.