DORSET is in for a battering tonight as a weather warning is issued.

Storm Angus is expected to sweep in overnight, and residents are being warned to be prepared.

The Environment Agency has issued flood warnings for west Dorset, with immediate action required.

Police have warned of 'horrific' conditions on Dorset's roads this evening (Saturday) with lots of standing water, and have urged drivers to proceed with care and allow extra time for journeys.

Angus is the first named storm of autumn 2016.

The Met Office, which this morning issued a yellow warning of rain and wind for areas including Dorset, says a spell of heavy rain and some very strong winds are expected to sweep across southern and south eastern parts of England during Saturday night and Sunday morning.

Gusts of 45-55 mph are likely inland and 60-65 mph near the coast. It is now expected the strongest winds will affect coastal counties from the Isle of Wight eastwards, where 70-80 mph gusts are possible.

People should be aware of the risk of difficult driving conditions due to localised surface water flooding and possible debris from trees.

The Chief Forecaster said: "A vigorous area of low pressure, now named Storm Angus, will move northeast across southern and southeast England on Sunday.

"This will be accompanied by a period of heavy rain, starting in the west of the area during Saturday evening, and very strong winds. 20-30 mm and locally 40 mm of rain is expected within a 6-9 hour period. Conditions are expected to improve from the west during the late morning and early afternoon.

"The warning area has been extended further west and north, but there remains some uncertainty about the exact track of the weather system and therefore the northward extent of any impacts."

The Environment Agency has now issued flood warnings for Lyme Regis and West Bay harbours around high tide on Sunday morning. A flood warning means flooding is expected.

An Environment Agency spokesman said: "The following flood warning will remain in force for two hours following the time of high tide.

"A deep low pressure system is forecast to cross the region on Sunday morning which will cause a storm surge.

"This may cause spray overtopping sea walls. The time and date of the forecast high water for which this flood warning is in force is 9.15 am.

"The forecast wind direction is West South Westerly. The forecast wind strength is Force 7."

A flood alert - meaning flooding is possible - is in place for the west coast of Dorset.

Angus is the first named storm of autumn 2016. The Name Our Storms programme is co-ordinated by the Met Office. A pilot project began last year, and Storm Angus marks the first storm of the second year of the project.

Weymouth-Waterloo operator South West Trains says it is planning to run a normal weekend timetable on all routes this evening and tomorrow morning - however the risk of trees and debris being blown onto the railway may require the company to make adjustments to trains in certain areas 

It will also need to impose a speed restriction of 50mph on all areas south of Guildford and Winchester on Saturday evening until 6am on Sunday meaning that some trains will take longer than usual to complete their journeys. The increased risk of lightning strikes means that signalling systems may fail, however, extra resources are on hand, should this happen.

A spokesman said: "We expect the weather to improve from 0700 on Sunday morning however the first few trains of the day may run without passengers to check that the line is clear of obstructions.

"In order to reduce the impact that this weather will have on your journey we will be running extra maintenance trains which have the ability to clear leaf mulch from the track as well as ensuring that we have a number of teams on stand-by to react to fallen trees, signalling problems or train failures.

"On a number of routes this weekend, we will be running rail replacements buses as engineering work is scheduled to take place, we have ordered a number of spare buses to react to any problems that the weather causes, however, should the roads be blocked, these buses will, like our trains, struggle to run.

"We strongly advise you to check before you travel and only to make essential journeys."