A phenomenological model is presented to describe the mechanical behaviour for metals and alloys over a large range of strain rates. It is an elasto-plastic model with a strain rate and temperature-sensitive yield stress. This model partially relies on physical considerations and is specially developed for an easy application in explicit finite element method (FEM) codes. The process for identifying the constants from experimental data is presented, taking into account the exact testing conditions such as temperature increase and strain rate variations during the loading. Applying the model to data obtained for mild steel and commercial aluminium sheets yields satisfactory results.