Britons should prepare themselves for a washout weekend, with 70mm of rain expected to lash large parts of the nation.
Three separate rain and wind alerts have been issued by the Met Office over the next four days, with one warning spanning almost the entirety of England and Wales and lasting for over 36 hours.
The downpours are expected to be at their heaviest on Friday night and into Saturday morning, with three flood warnings already in place. This figure is likely to soar in the coming days.
“Strong winds and heavy rain potentially leading to some disruption,” the Met Office warned issuing the 36-hour alert yesterday.
Up to 70mm of rain could lash parts of the UK over the weekend
Met Office/WXCharts
A yellow rain warning is set to kick in shortly, beginning at 2pm today and lasting until 6pm. It was issued in the early hours of this morning.
The affected regions include; Derbyshire, Blackpool, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Wrexham, Stoke-on-Trent and Yorkshire & Humber.
And tomorrow, a 36-hour warning will kick in. It comes into effect on Friday at 3pm and lasts until 6am on Sunday, stretching from the North Northumberland coast, down to Land’s End in western Cornwall.
Issuing the alert, the Met Office said: “A deep low may cross England and Wales from Friday afternoon, clearing to the east Saturday night. The low may bring a period of strong winds to much of the warning area, with some heavy rain likely to the north and west of the low centre, and some hill snow in the north (above about 200 metres).
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“Around 15-25 mm of rain may fall quite widely, more particularly across central, northern and western parts of England and Wales, with exposed higher ground in the north and west (particularly parts of Wales, which are at greatest risk of seeing flooding impacts) perhaps locally seeing closer to 50-70 mm.
“Winds may quite widely gust to around 40-50 mph inland but locally could gust in excess of 60 mph, whilst around coasts, winds may gust to 60-70 mph, perhaps locally nearer 80 mph. The wind and rain may cause disruption to travel, with difficult driving conditions likely.”
The forecaster said that journey times – air, train, road, and ferry – could all be impacted by the wet and windy conditions.
Flooding could also occur, causing damage to some buildings, whilst power cuts could also be on the cards.
The UK is set to have a washout weekend, beginning from today
Netweather
“There is a small chance that injuries and danger to life could occur from large waves and beach material being thrown onto sea fronts, coastal roads and properties,” it added.
The yellow warning set to commence in just hours won’t see quite as much rainfall, though flooding and travel disruption are a likelihood.
The Met Office said: “A spell of heavy rain is likely during Thursday afternoon, clearing to the east through the early evening. 20 to 30 mm is likely to fall in just a few hours, bringing a risk of some surface water flooding and disruption to travel. The rain is also likely to be accompanied by gusty, perhaps briefly squally, winds.”
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