Areas of north-west England, Yorkshire and north Wales, as well as all of Northern Ireland, have been warned to be prepare for heavy rain on Saturday after storm Abigail left thousands without power and closed schools.
The Met Office put in place a series of amber warnings, the second highest, while the Environment Agency warned that communities in northern England faced the risk of significant river flooding over the weekend.
It said Cumbria, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, and North and West Yorkshire were the areas most at risk on Saturday evening and into Sunday.
The forecasted inclement weather, a remnant of Hurricane Kate, would be the latest band to hit Britain after Abigail. The latter storm, the first to be officially named by the Met Office, left more than 20,000 homes without power and schools closed in Shetland and the Western Isles.
On Friday, it was announced that Glasgow’s Christmas lights switch-on had been cancelled due to the predicted stormy weather. The event was due to take place on Sunday at 6pm, with around 13,000 people set to attend.
The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for the city for much of the weekend, with more rain and wind forecast. The “be aware” warning also covers the rest of central and south-west Scotland, as well as all areas of north-west England and north Wales not covered by the more serious amber warning.
Organisers in Glasgow said the decision had been taken to cancel the switch-on after predicted wind speeds raised concerns about public safety.
A spokesman for Glasgow Life said: “The stormy weather battering much of Scotland has created real problems for our teams working on the Glasgow Christmas lights switch-on.
“Now with a weather warning in place for further significant wind and rain over the weekend, public safety issues have been raised. As a result we’ve taken the difficult decision to cancel the event.”
There are no plans to re-stage the event at a later date due to the complexity and scale of it, said Glasgow Life.
Elsewhere this weekend, forecasters say a month’s rain could fall on some high ground on Saturday evening and Sunday morning, following days of wet and windy weather.
Some of the areas covered by the Met Office’s amber warnings are likely to see between 70 and 100mm of rain, while some more exposed parts of north Wales and north-west England could see as much as 150 to 200mm.
Such heavy rain on already saturated ground is likely to lead to flooding from standing water or from rivers bursting their banks, the Met Office warned.
Craig Woolhouse, the Environment Agency’s director of incident management, echoed the warning, saying: “River levels across northern England are already high and are expected to rise with this further heavy rainfall, bringing with them a significant risk of flooding.
“We are working closely with the emergency services and partners to prepare ahead of the weekend.
“Our teams are already in action clearing watercourses, maintaining existing defences and standing ready to deploy temporary pumps and defences where these can be effective.”
