The Met Office has issued “danger to life” warnings with Britain set to be hit by 36 hours of torrential rain.
Downpours are expected to arrive across parts of the UK at the end of the week, bringing flooding and disruption to driving conditions and public transport.
Weather warnings for rain are in force from 12pm on Friday to midnight on Saturday for much of northern England and Wales, where up to 4in (100mm) of rain could fall.
Met Office forecaster Emma Smith told The Independent: “We’ve got wet and windy weather in the north as we go through the rest of Tuesday and we will be getting some strengthening winds.
“We could be getting gale-force winds Tuesday night and Wednesday into the end of the week.
“Through Wednesday that rain in the north starts to sink southwards slowly.”
Ms Smith added much of Thursday will bring a “respite” for most places – although it will remain windy in the north with a few showers.
Heavy rainfall will then hit many parts of Wales, the Pennines and the Lake District on Friday, while other places will see sunny spells with outbreaks of rain.
“Really today [Tuesday] will be our last really nice day across the country and it’s quite an unsettled week,” said Ms Smith.
“In the warning area we could see 40-60mm of rain at ground levels, but up to 100mm in the higher ground in the Welsh mountains, Pennines and Lake District.
“We could see quite a lot of surface spray on the road and poor conditions for driving.
“People will have to make time for their journey and there could be delays to transport as well.”
Temperatures on Wednesday are expected to reach highs of 14C to 15C in the South and 12C to 13C in northern areas.
Highs will be around 15C to 16C on Thursday, however it will turn chillier in Scotland and Northern Ireland on Friday with top temperatures of 9C to 10C.
Conditions will be pleasant in the south and southeast on Saturday with highs of 16C to 17C, however it will only reach 8C to 10C in northern England, Wales and the Midlands.
