Met Office weather warning raised to higher level amid fears Storm …
The Met Office has raised the impact level of a weather warning[1] for heavy rain in the south and southeast of England throughout Saturday.
The weather service said already saturated conditions would increase the risk of flooding and disruption in some locations. A yellow warning for heavy rain stretching from Dorset to Kent has been issued by the Met Office[2] from 5am to 11.59pm on Saturday.
The Met Office said it was raising the impact level of the weather warning to medium to cater for "higher rainfall totals in parts of the South East". The warning was updated this morning, removing it from south-western parts of England where the Met Office said the heaviest rain has now passed.
UK weather: Met Office warning as Bonfire Night weekend could see third storm in 3 weeks[3]
Many areas in the UK have been rainy this week (
PA)
Forecasters said it expected 15-25mm of rain to "fall quite widely", especially towards the south coast, adding that the wettest spots in East Sussex and southeast Kent could receive 30-45mm of rainfall. Met Office meteorologist Dan Stroud said this level of rain on its own would not usually be particularly concerning.
However, he added that it came "against the backdrop of a very wet October and ongoing issues in parts of Sussex". He added: "It doesn't actually take much more rain for there to be further impacts in relation to surface water issues on roads."
The yellow weather warning advises of the possibility of spray and flooding on roads as heavy rain falls on saturated ground leading to delays to road, bus and train travel. The Met Office also warned that the flooding of homes and businesses is possible and there is "a small chance of deep floodwater in places".
The weather warning has been updated by the Met Office (
Met office)
It said the band of wet and windy weather will move north across much of England and Wales during Saturday with blustery heavy showers following. Any rain across central and northern England will then ease tonight with showers becoming increasingly confined to coastal areas, the Met Office added.
Showers will predominantly be in the west on Sunday with dry and brighter conditions in the east, and no weather warnings are currently issued. It comes after Storm Ciaran battered the south coast and the Channel Islands with heavy rain and gusts of up to 100mph on Thursday, leaving nearly 150,000 homes without power.
Mr Stroud said that Storm Ciaran had shifted out into the North Sea and the rain on Saturday was associated with a new area of low pressure. Despite conditions improving, rail services remained disrupted on Friday as the UK felt the after-effects of Storm Ciaran. LNER, the main train operator on the East Coast Main Line between London King's Cross and Edinburgh Waverley, advised passengers not to travel until Saturday.
Waves crash the harbour wall in Newhaven, southern England (
AFP via Getty Images)
Met Office chief forecaster Frank Saunders added the weather is now "typical autumnal" and said that conditions are expected to remain unsettled early next week. He said: "After the events of this week, the forecast is moving into a period of fairly typical autumnal weather, with breezy conditions and spells of rain and showers, interspersed with some clearer and brighter periods.
"We still have warnings in the forecast, partly because the ground is already so wet but overall conditions are expected to be less impactful than we’ve seen over the last few days. Aside from scattered showers in the north and west of the UK, Bonfire Night (Sunday) will be largely dry and settled, although temperatures will be dipping compared with values last week."
It comes amid warnings the UK could be hit by its third storm in as many weeks over Bonfire Night weekend - with the as yet unofficially named Storm Debi on the cards.[4] The Met Office[5] is yet to name the storm - which would come hot on the heels of Storm Ciarán and before that Storm Babet. The UK is still reeling after days of torrential rain, flooding and 110mph winds caused major travel disruption and widespread devastation.
UK 5 day weather forecast
Today:
Early fog slowly clearing this morning, leaving a mixture of sunshine and showers for Northern Ireland and Scotland[6] today. A band of wet and windy weather[7] will move north across much of England and Wales with blustery heavy showers following.
Tonight:
Any rain across central and northern England will continue to ease tonight with showers becoming increasingly confined to coastal areas, though still heavy in places. Some mist and fog developing.
Sunday:
Showers will mostly affect western coastal counties on Sunday and could be heavy and thundery at times. After some early showers a generally dry and bright day elsewhere. Windy.
Outlook for Monday to Wednesday:
Sunshine and heavy showers for some on Monday. Showers more isolated on Tuesday. Rain clearing east to showers on Wednesday. Often rather windy and feeling cool, especially along exposed coasts.
References
- ^ weather warning (www.mirror.co.uk)
- ^ Met Office (www.mirror.co.uk)
- ^ UK weather: Met Office warning as Bonfire Night weekend could see third storm in 3 weeks (www.mirror.co.uk)
- ^ unofficially named Storm Debi on the cards. (www.mirror.co.uk)
- ^ Met Office (www.mirror.co.uk)
- ^ Scotland (www.mirror.co.uk)
- ^ weather (www.mirror.co.uk)