Parts of England could be drenched by bouts of persistent rain in the coming hours, forecasters have said.

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for rain, covering the East Midlands, East of England, North East England Yorkshire and Humber from Saturday at 7pm through to Sunday noon.

It brings the chance of flooding and transport disruption as “many areas will see 10-15 mm of rain, with the wettest spots seeing 25-30 mm,” according to the forecaster.

The Environment Agency had issued 76 flood warnings and 266 flood alerts by Saturday afternoon.

The rain, which may become persistent and at times heavy across eastern parts of England during Saturday evening, should clear from the south of the warning area by dawn on Sunday and from north-east England by early afternoon.

Flooding and travel disruption could also be on the cards for South West England where there is also a yellow rain warning in place from Saturday at 6pm through to Sunday at 6am.

Residents have been warned they may face heavy showers.

The warning states: “The showers may form into narrow lines where there is the possibility of 15-20mm of rain falling within two to three hours and 20-30mm through the period of the warning.

“Given already saturated ground, this may lead to surface water flooding in places.”

In an online forecast, Met Office meteorologist Jonathan Vautrey said: “With the showers in the South West and this rain moving into eastern England and eastern Scotland, there could be some localised disruption considering it has been so wet recently and this is just adding further rainfall on top of that.”

Clearer spells will allow fog to develop throughout the night fairly rapidly.

He added there could be a touch of frost in a few locations in some rural spots but most towns and cities will be holding up above freezing for the night.

Temperatures on Sunday are expected to be around 7C-11C, which is to be expected at this time of year.