THE Met Office's thunderstorm warning has been extended into a third day including a warning of large hail and lightning.

The original yellow weather warning has now been extended across most of England and Wales from 12pm on Sunday to midnight on Tuesday.

The latest warning for Tuesday lasts 24 hours and says large hail, lightning and gusty winds are also likely.

A Met Office spokesman added: "Thunderstorms are expected across parts of England and Wales at times on Tuesday.

"Storms are likely to spread north from France early in the day, before developing more widely later.

"Whilst some places may miss storms altogether, where they do develop 20-30 mm of rain could fall in one hour, with a few spots perhaps seeing as much as 40-60 mm in one hour, which is very unusual for the UK."

When are the storms most likely to hit the north west?

The Met Office adds heavy thundery rain is expected to move northwards across Wales, central and northern England through Monday morning, clearing to the north around midday.

Isolated heavy thunderstorms may then develop across much of England and Wales during the afternoon, with the greatest potential being towards the southeast.

Further heavy thundery rain may then arrive across southern parts of England late in the day.

In areas affected by the thundery rain 20-40mm may fall widely, with peaks of 60mm possible across parts of northern England.

In areas affected by isolated heavy thunderstorms, very locally in excess of 40mm may fall in an hour.