UK braced for three inches of heavy rain before temperatures rise again
by Jen Mills · MetroSome areas could see up to three inches of rain in six hours as a band of wet weather tracks across the UK today.
Wales, the South West and northern England will be the worst affected, with the Met Office warning there could be more flooding.
A yellow weather warning stretching from Cornwall to Manchester was previously due to lift at lunchtime, but has been extended until 9pm. Meanwhile, a new warning was put in place for the North until midnight including Newcastle upon Tyne, Yorkshire, Lancashire and Blackpool.
It comes after weeks of flooding already which led to major roads closed completely due to water blocking them, and communities cut off.
Some counties of England saw their wettest September on record, receiving three times the normal rainfall.
Oxfordshire and Bedfordshire had their wettest months ever since records began – although the rain came after a drier than normal summer for much of the UK.
It will be a varied outlook for the country today with some southeastern areas seeing highs of 20°C or 21°C even as others risk flooding, which is about 5°C warmer than the average for this time of year, though most places will see 13-18°C.
About an inch of rainfall had already fallen overnight across the warning area, with 10-20mm forecast to continue for many areas and 50mm to 80mm could be seen locally, flooding in places.
Met Office meteorologist Greg Dewhurst said: ‘The rain is quite extensive across parts of Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and the west of England, and when it’s not raining it’s cloudy, misty and murky.
Which areas are covered by the warning today?
A large area of England is affected, although eastern areas will escape the drenching. These regions have been put on alert until 9pm:
East Midlands
- Derbyshire
North West England
- Blackburn with Darwen
- Cheshire East
- Cheshire West and Chester
- Greater Manchester
- Halton
- Lancashire
- Merseyside
- Warrington
South West England
- Bath and North East Somerset
- Bristol
- Cornwall
- Devon
- Dorset
- Gloucestershire
- North Somerset
- Plymouth
- Somerset
- South Gloucestershire
- Swindon
- Torbay
- Wiltshire
Wales
- Blaenau Gwent
- Bridgend
- Caerphilly
- Cardiff
- Carmarthenshire
- Ceredigion
- Conwy
- Denbighshire
- Flintshire
- Gwynedd
- Merthyr Tydfil
- Monmouthshire
- Neath Port Talbot
- Newport
- Powys
- Rhondda Cynon Taf
- Swansea
- Torfaen
- Vale of Glamorgan
- Wrexham
West Midlands
- Herefordshire
- Shropshire
- Staffordshire
- Stoke-on-Trent
- Telford and Wrekin
- Warwickshire
- West Midlands Conurbation
- Worcestershire
Additionally, a new rain warning covers northern England until midnight:
North East England
- Darlington
- Durham
- Gateshead
- Hartlepool
- Middlesbrough
- Newcastle upon Tyne
- North Tyneside
- Northumberland
- Redcar and Cleveland
- South Tyneside
- Stockton-on-Tees
- Sunderland
North West England
- Blackburn with Darwen
- Blackpool
- Cumbria
- Greater Manchester
- Lancashire
Yorkshire & Humber
- North Yorkshire
- West Yorkshire
‘It will stay pretty similar in terms of the areas that will see the outbreaks of rain, it could be heavy at times.
‘The driest will likely be across the east and south-east of England.
‘It will start to become drier across the south-western parts overnight; by the end of the night it will be more restricted to parts of Scotland and north-east England.
‘Tomorrow there will be rain first thing across Scotland and north-east England. It will quickly clear and be a much brighter day for everyone. There will be a few showers but lots of places will stay dry and temperatures will be between 16-19°C.’
The forecaster added that on Friday there will be a west and east split developing with cloud and rain in western parts of the UK while central and eastern areas will be dry with sunny spells. Temperatures will be between 13-16°C.
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