Heavy thunderstorms are expected to hit parts of Scotland on Friday and into the weekend.

The severe showers could bring flooding to homes and businesses and disrupt transport, the Met Office has said.

On Friday, the storms will develop over Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway before drifting into northern and central areas in the afternoon.

Yellow weather warnings are in place for much of Friday and Saturday, with torrential rain and hail expected.

The central belt and northern parts of Scotland will be affected on Saturday, with the thunderstorms continuing into Sunday.

Despite the showers there will be plenty of sunshine between the downpours and temperatures in the west will remain in the 20s on Friday and into the weekend.

STV's weather presenter Sean Batty said: "After a very dry month for much of the country, one of the driest on record for some locations, thunderstorms are set to develop in the coming days.

"The thundery showers will be more frequent on Friday, with the focus largely on central and western areas.

"Thunderstorms will develop on Friday morning initially across Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway, before drifting slowly north into central areas during the afternoon.

"Thunderstorms will also develop over the Cairngorms, Monadhliath mountains and the north Highlands, and drift north into Moray and Inverness later.

"These storms will bring some heavy downpours, although amounts will vary widely over small distances."

He continued: "On Saturday frequent thunderstorms will develop through the day, with central and western areas again seeing the bulk of them.

"The cloud tops could exceed 25,000 feet meaning some of the storms could be severe, with torrential rain and hail possibly leading to flooding issues.

"The slow-moving nature of these showers won't help, as this means if you get caught under one, it could stick around for a while with rainfall quickly accumulating.

"More severe thunderstorms can be expected on Sunday in similar areas, and like Saturday's downpours, these could lead to flooding and a risk of disruption to transport."