A weather warning was issued yesterday for parts of Britian after torrential downpours and thunderstorms increased the likelihood of flooding.

The Met Office upgraded its yellow warning to amber for the east and southeast of England after more than a month’s rain fell in just nine hours.

On average, 51.6mm of rain falls throughout the entire month of August.

The amber alert means the public should now be prepared for the risk of flooding of roads and properties.

According to the Met Office, Eastbourne town centre saw 60mm of rainfall between 3am and midday, with the majority of it falling yesterday evening.

East Sussex, and in particular Brighton, appears to have been hit by the worst of the storms, with many taking to social media to post photos of calf-high water running through the street.

Torrential downpours and thunderstorms increase likelihood of flooding

Referring to the warning, Dan Williams from the Met Office said: “We are expecting another pulse of rain and thundery activity to come through, over and above that which came through this morning.

“Essentially, the concern is that the cumulative impact of that second pulse of rain will add to what has already fallen, and has probably already left some areas pretty saturated.”

Between 4.05am and 12.50pm, East Sussex Rescue Service was called to 32 incidences of flooding, some including water affecting electrics.

The A23 in Brighton flooded yesterday as torrential downpours and thunderstorms swept the UK. Photo: @johnsiemarie/PA Wire

Kent firefighters attended two properties in the Ashford area following lightning strikes, although no one was reported injured.

At one property in Great Chart a fire was put out by crews and they were also responding to flooding in New Romney, Canterbury and Tunbridge Wells.

The Airbourne airshow in Eastbourne also cancelled its flying displays for the day because of the heavy rains. Also in Eastbourne, the Arndale shopping centre had to be evacuated because of flooding.

Williams said that the weather warning meant that another 70mm was forecast to fall overnight. He added: “We have got areas of heavy showers, some high rainfall in the far southwest, but it is essentially concentrated in the southeast area.

“But we are expecting more for these two areas and for it to move further north and east throughout the afternoon.

“We would expect to see some thunder and lightning with the heavy showers.”

The weather is forecast to clear across the country by the weekend, with most places expected to see some sunshine.

An Environment Agency spokesman said the heavy and thundery rain across many parts of England has the potential to cause isolated incidents of localised surface water flooding.