HEAVY rain and strong gales are set to sweep across Somerset throughout the afternoon, with some parts of the county due for thunder and lightning tonight.

A yellow weather warning is in place from 1pm today (November 11) until midnight.

A spokesman for Met Office said: "Early showery rain soon fizzles out with sunny spells developing. Strengthening winds spread rain from the west after midday and by evening there'll be some persistennt, heavy rain in places accompanied by gales, with possibly severe gales around exposed coasts."

The temperature will peak at 13C during the day, before falling to a minimum of 8C overnight.

The Met Office also predicts 'heavy rain and gales continue through the evening' with a chance of thundery showers after midnight.

A spokesman for Western Power Distribution said: "You may be aware that it is expected parts of our network; in particular the South West, South Wales and some areas of the West Midlands will be impacted with gale force winds and heavy rain fall during this afternoon and into the evening.

"Our network is currently operating under normal conditions, however the latest forecasts that we have received indicate that parts of our network may be affected.

"Should this be the case, please be assured that we are fully prepared and precautionary measures are in place.

"We will provide a further update today at 4pm.

"If you need to report a problem, please use the free 105 nationwide emergency telephone number.

"Our network outage map is live and shows localities currently affected."

Tomorrow's forecat said: "Sunny spells and heavy, blustery showers, possibly with hail and thunder. The showers will be most frequent around coasts and over hills in the morning, but become more widespread later."

The temperature is set to peak at 14C.

For the outlook from Sunday to Tuesday, they added: "Spells of sunshine are likely on all three days. However, it will be breezy and showers will interrupt the sunshine at times. Longer spells of rain are possible too."