People in south-west England and Wales are being warned to expect heavy rain on Thursday night while more widespread downpours are forecast for Friday.

The Environment Agency has 11 flood warnings in place, mainly in the north-east of the UK, but says southern areas and Wales are more likely to be adversely affected. The Met Office has issued severe warnings for south-west England, the West Midlands and Wales.

Chris Burton, a weather forecaster for MeteoGroup, said southern areas could get between 20mm and 40mm of rain over the next two days, with the figure rising to 60mm on higher ground.

"There is going to be quite a lot of rain across more southern areas," he said. "The first bit of rain is going to be tonight in the south-west and Wales, spreading east overnight.

"There has been quite a lot of rain in Wales so the ground is quite saturated. It is going to turn a bit drier tomorrow morning with a bit of drizzle later. On Friday night there is going to be rather heavy rain across southern parts of England and Wales."

The rest of the country will be quite cold and chilly with showers. Burton said southern areas could expect temperatures of 13C (55F) to 16C (61F) over the next few days, while northern areas will feel colder with temperatures between 10C (50F) and 12C (54F).