The latest radar shows that the main rain belt is to the east of Portsmouth and heading north and east Sunshine so The New Forest should avoid the worst of it. There is still a chance of localised showers developing later today, some of which may be heavy and thundery, but with any luck you will avoid them where you are heading.

Looking much better for Sunday and Monday if that's any consolation. Have a good weekend.

Moley

**UPDATED SATURDAY AUGUST 24TH 2013 @ 13:15 Hrs**

This Low Pressure Sytem is now showing signs of becoming very active, and some intense rainfall is now spiralling around the London area. There is an increasing risk of thunderstorms and torrential rain in the next 3-4 hours, and localised flooding is possible in some parts of the region.

Nothing to be too concerned about, but just a heads up for anyone who is planning anything for this afternoon.

Moley.

Quite a few reports coming in this afternoon of localised flooding in Essex:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/travelnews/essex

Torrential rain and localised thunderstorms are now affecting much of London and the South East region. This is likely to continue for the next 2-3 hours at least. Some locations may avoid it altogether, but where these downpours occur driving conditions in particular will be hazardous.

Moley

It's finally stopped !! After just over 28 hours of continuous rain here in Northwood the heavens seem to have finally relented in their attempt to recreate a north west London Waterworld.

That has to be one of the worst spells of prolonged rain in a long time, as the Low Pressure just kept spiralling around and over us, couple with a moisture soaked stalled frontal system.

It was bad enough here, but far worse in parts of Essex, with Southend, Billericay and Rayliegh in particular suffering some extensive flooding. Rainfall totals are still to be confirmed, but a number of amateur weather stations in Essex are reporting as much as 100mm's ( 4 " ) in a 24 hour period.

Although still overcast and gloomy here things should start to improve from around midday today ( Sunday ), and apart from an occasional shower the rest of the Bank Holiday Weekend should be quite pleasant.

Enjoy it, whatever the weather. Moley

I had a fantastic day yesterday. By the time I reached Winchester on the M3 the rain had stopped and I never saw any more until I got off the M3 and on to the M25 on the way home in the evening. I avoided it!

I'm not really gloating

It's nice today though - not too hot and definitely not wet

Feel free to gloat and thanks for posting Sunshine, I was beginning to think I was just posting to myself

You certainly picked the right area to visit yesterday for some half decent weather. It was grim here and a lot worse in Essex.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5Qf6uA12I0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJ6JlN2SGvA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6WGVGrtCWc

Moley

That last clip is quite amazing. How lucky were those kids as a few seconds later they would have drowned? Heroic stuff

Definitely!

That last video was downright scary but thanks to some heroic action ended with nothing worse than a written-off vehicle. It was just pure luck that help was at hand where and when it was.

Fortunately incidents like this are quite rare in the UK but the downside of that is people have little understanding or experience of just how powerful floodwater can be, how quickly it can accumulate, and how to drive in it. As that video shows, a large 4x4 is no match for deep floodwater. Dips in the road under bridges like that are fairly common, and I remember the bridge under the railway at West Drayton/Yiewsley used to be a particular problem years ago.

At the risk of sounding like an old codger, it's worth reminding folk that it's not worth taking a chance if confronted by situations like that. The following video is quite useful with advice about how to drive through floodwater, but even then only to be attempted if you know the road and the depth of water.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoVNyE5ZsVY

Moley

I remember we refused to take buses under West Drayton dip when it was really bad. One time there were a few of us drivers standing around watching the chaos having parked up in WD station and a Granada went through. The water got right up to his bottom windscreen but he got through !!

Obviously a diesel but it was comical.

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Lets be careful out there !