Even the donkeys were sheltering from the torrential rain on Weston-super-Mare beach yesterday.

The Met Office issued a severe weather warning for the South West during the day, warning of six inches of rain in less than three hours, and rain is likely across the region until tomorrow.

But, if the organisation's forecasts are to be trusted, the weather in the West is to improve by the weekend.

Helen Chivers, forecaster at the Met Office, said: "It looks like the western part of the country is going to have the best weather over the bank holiday weekend.

The weather is still not looking brilliant for Friday, with cloud and outbreaks of rain predicted during the morning, but it won't be as heavy as we've seen.

But things are looking better for Saturday and particularly Monday."