Large parts of the UK are taking preventative action as Storm Christoph is set to bring heavy rain and the risk of flooding this week.
The Met Office and Environment Agency are both issuing warnings ahead of the heavy rain that had let to amber warnings in parts of the country.
The South West looks set to escape the worst of the weather, but is still covered by a yellow severe weather warning that starts on Wednesday at 12.01am and runs until noon on Thursday.
While parts of Gloucestershire comes under a severe weather warning that started at 12.01am today and runs right through to noon on Thursday.
The Met Office has said the persistent heavy rain will lead to “significant accumulations of rain” that could lead to flooding in some areas.
Amber National Severe Weather Warning for rain has been issued for parts of northern, central and eastern England, including Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield, Wakefield, Lincoln, Nottingham, Leicester and Peterborough.
Within this Amber warning zone rainfall accumulations could reach up to 200mm in parts of the southern Pennines and northern Peak District, 40-70mm could be seen more widely.
Today’s yellow warning (including parts of Gloucestershire)
12.01am Tuesday to noon on Thursday:
This covers the parts of Gloucester, the Forest of Dean, Wales, Newent, Tewkesbury, Evesham and parts of the north-eastern Cotswolds.
What to expect
- Homes and businesses could be flooded, causing damage to some buildings
- Fast flowing or deep floodwater is possible, causing a danger to life
- Delays or cancellations to train and bus services are possible
- Spray and flooding could lead to difficult driving conditions and some road closures
- Some communities may be cut off by flooded roads
- Possible power cuts and loss of other services to some homes and businesses
Wednesday and Thursday’s severe weather warning
12.01am Wednesday to noon on Thursday
This covers the whole of the South West as well as southern and South East England
What to expect
Flooding of a few homes and businesses is likely
Bus and train services probably affected with journey times taking longer
Spray and flooding on roads probably making journey times longer
Some interruption to power supplies and other services likely
What the Met Office’s chief meteorologist is saying
Chief Meteorologist Dan Suri, said “Following a cold spell where the main hazard was snow, our focus now turns to notably heavy rain moving across the UK this week.
“Some locations could see over 100mm of rain falling through the course just a couple of days with up to 200mm possible over higher ground.
“These amounts of rainfall along with snow melt present a real threat of flooding and people should keep a close eye on flood warnings from the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales.”
“As the system moves away into the North Sea Wednesday night and Thursday morning there will be strong winds along the east coast for a time. Meanwhile, colder air coming southwards into the weather system brings the risk of further snow on the back edge of this system. Temperatures will gradually fall across the UK through the end of the week and into the weekend bringing a return to widespread overnight frosts.”
What the Environment Agency is saying
Although Friday will be drier with more sunshine, the delayed response of some river systems means there is still a risk of flooding in some areas.
At the moment, there is just one flood warning in place for the River Coln around Fairford.
Katharine Smith, Flood Duty Manager at the Environment Agency, said: “Much of the ground in parts of northern, central and eastern England is already saturated and the rainfall together with snowmelt is expected to bring significant river and surface water flooding and could cause damage to buildings in some communities.
"Flooding could continue to affect parts of central, eastern and northern England into Friday, with localised flooding of land and roads a possibility elsewhere across much of country on Wednesday and Thursday.
“Environment Agency teams are out on the ground clearing grills, screens and closing flood barriers. We urge people to keep away from swollen rivers and not to drive through flood water – it is often deeper than it looks and just 30cm of flowing water is enough to float your car.
What happens next?
Into the weekend the feed of cold air from the north west is likely continue, with further wintry showers into the northwest.
