A severe weather warning has been issued for parts of Britain, with almost a month's rain expected to fall in two days.

The amber alert covers much of north-east England, where the Met Office has warned there could be flooding and disruption on Friday and Saturday.

More than 60mm (2.4in) of rain is expected to fall in 36 hours in some areas, approaching the usual 69.9mm (2.8in) UK average rainfall for the month of July. The average July rainfall for the north of England is 64.4mm (2.5in).

Rain is expected to fall in much of Britain on Friday, with less severe yellow warnings issued for eastern, northern and central areas of England and Wales, as well as parts of southern Scotland.

A Met Office spokesman said Friday's rain would be "prolonged, quite persistent and heavy".

He added: "This is likely to lead to surface water flooding, particularly in the amber area, where there is an increasing likelihood of river flooding.

"The public should be prepared for disruption to travel and outdoor activities. The rain across central England, East Anglia and south-east England should ease later in the day."

Nick Prebble, forecaster at MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said: "It looks like Friday will be the worst day in terms of widespread rain.

"We could see 20mm (0.8in) fall in six hours in some places on Friday morning. It will be very heavy and there will certainly be a risk of flooding."

The deluge could affect the men's semi-finals at Wimbledon, scheduled to take place on Friday.

While Friday's downpours will be the most widespread, the Met Office has also issued yellow weather warnings for some areas of Britain for Wednesday and Thursday this week. The heaviest rain on Wednesday is expected in the north-east and central areas of England, with some storms predicted in south-west England on Thursday.

The Met Office spokesman added: "Up to an inch or so of rain could fall in a relatively short period of time, but in other areas they won't see much rain at all and a good proportion will see some sun. It won't be a complete washout.

"Where rain does happen on Thursday, there could be torrential downpours."

Last month was the wettest June since records began, with double the average rain falling during the month. Provisional figures from the Met Office showed Britain got 145.3mm (5.7in) during the month, beating the previous record of 136.2mm (5.4in) in June 2007.

It was the second month this yearof record-breaking amounts of rain, after April became the wettest since records dating back to 1910. June saw prolonged rainfall and short but exceptionally heavy showers, and ended with freak storms which battered areas of the Midlands and the north-east. The exceptional amount of rain caused floods in Wales and parts of England.