Homes and businesses could be flooded as heavy rain lashes parts of the UK overnight, forecasters have warned.

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for Dumfries and Galloway, Lothian and the Borders in Scotland between 1am and 1pm on Wednesday. Flood alerts are also in force for several locations in Surrey, Cumbria and Wales.

However drier conditions are expected to spread northeast in the afternoon as the country continues to enjoy higher than average temperatures.

Forecaster Martin Bowles said the weather front was was acting “like a conveyor belt which keeps bringing rain.”

He added: “One particular area, Dumfries and Galloway, is going to get this rain pretty much continuously for a few hours. That can cause some low-level surface water flooding.”

Between 20mm and 30mm of rain is expected in some places, with as much as 50mm on higher ground.

The Met Office is warning that “spray and flooding on roads” is likely to cause delays to motorists in these areas.

Flooding of a few homes and businesses is possible, particularly if properties are susceptible to the problem.

Four amber flood alerts are in place in western, central and south-western parts of Scotland.

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One flood warning and four flood alerts have been issued for parts of Wales.

The Environment Agency has also issued a flood warning for Keswick in the Lake District and flood alerts for the River Derwent in Cumbria and the River Wey near Guildford in Surrey.