Spain weather warnings: Holiday destinations in Spain, France and Italy see unsettled conditions while UK heads for warm weekend

The Met Office believes that today - Friday - will be a “dry day with plenty of warm sunshine”, with breezes in the north west and south east, but warmer temperatures than what has for many people been at times a chilly week with a cold north wind.

Tomorrow, forecasters think it will be “another fine, dry day with plenty of warm sunshine for most”, and warmer than Friday, with only the north west looking likely for rain.

But the forecast for continental Europe is much for unsettled.

Spain is in the grip of a Dana - a spell of isolated high-level depression. This has led to heavy rain, which has caused flooding in several regions. This weekend there are several thunderstorm warnings, including some severe ones.

The worst of the weather looks like it will be between Madrid and Valencia, in a stretch that includes the Serranía de Cuenca. There are severe warnings for all of Saturday, just as there are for the Spanish side of the border with France, covering Pamplona and stretching east towards Andorra. Those are just the severe warnings, and there are general thunderstorm warnings for about half the country, main covering the central section from north to south, but also at Portugal’s northern border with Spain.

And Spain isn’t the only affected country. France is forecast to see thunder along its entire west coast, as well as in its central southern region including Clemont-Ferrand, Saint-Etienne and Grenoble - effectively surrounding Lyon.

And thunderstorms are also predicted for northern Italy and parts of Switzerland.