Most of England has been issued with a yellow rain warning for “spells of heavy rain” over the weekend, including across County Durham and much of the North East.

The Met Office warning has been put in place from 3pm on Saturday, February 17 and will last for more than 24 hours until 6pm on Sunday, February 18.

The forecasters said spells of rain, some heavy, will “push east across most areas through Saturday and Sunday” and “some disruption is likely.”

What to expect across the North East during heavy rain weather warning

The Met Office said those who live in the areas affected by the yellow weather warning for heavy rain could expect:

  • Flooding of a few homes and businesses is likely
  • Bus and train services probably affected with journey times taking longer
  • Spray and flooding on roads probably making journey times longer
  • Some interruption to power supplies and other services likely

Speaking about this weekend's weather predictions, the Met Office added: “An area of persistent and occasionally heavy rain is expected to move from west to east across the warning area during Saturday and Sunday, falling on already saturated ground.

“Rain will clear western areas early Sunday, whilst rate of clearance from east and southeast England is open to some uncertainty, but all areas should become dry by evening.

Full list of North East areas covered by yellow heavy rain warning

  • Darlington
  • Durham
  • Gateshead
  • Hartlepool
  • Middlesbrough
  • Newcastle upon Tyne
  • North Tyneside
  • Northumberland
  • Redcar and Cleveland
  • South Tyneside
  • Stockton-on-Tees
  • Sunderland

The Environment Agency has warned that “local flooding from surface water is probable on Saturday and Sunday across much of England.”

It added: “Local flooding from rivers is also possible across parts of the Midlands and South West England today (February 16), and more widely across much of England on Saturday and Sunday.

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“Local flooding from rivers is possible but not expected across parts of the Midlands and the South of England on Monday (February 19) and Tuesday (February 20), following heavy rainfall over the weekend.

“Land, roads and some properties will flood and there will be travel disruption.”

You can keep up to date with the weather, flood alerts and warnings in the North East on the Met Office website and Environment Agency website.