Parts of the UK are facing the possibility of up to a month’s rainfall in 24 hours, forecasters have warned as “danger to life” warnings were issued.
Gale force winds will also batter some regions and the first snow of autumn might hit higher ground, the Met Office said.
Heavy rain is set to stretch across the west of the country – with the drenching continuing in some areas for as long as 36 hours, potentially causing flooding and travel disruption.
Some regions could face “the possibility of up to 100mm of rain in 24 hours” (the equivalent of a typical month’s rainfall in some regions), Met Office spokesperson Grahame Madge told The Independent.
He added: “There is a conveyor of cloud and rain that’s going to be bringing this rainfall more or less continually over parts of the west, especially Wales. Obviously there is a small chance of impact – so there’s a small chance that homes and properties could see some flooding.”
He added: “Given the fact that the warning is out for effectively 36 hours – from midday tomorrow until midnight on Saturday – it does provide the chance for the large amount of rain to occur ... and certain neighbourhoods could find conditions changing quite quickly during that period even if, at the beginning of the warning, everything’s fine.”
Yellow weather warnings, which indicate a small chance of fast-flowing or deep floodwater causing danger to life (while also suggesting the possibility of travel disruption), have also been issued for regions in the north of the country, from Carlisle to Greater Manchester, as well as the length and breadth of Wales.
Gale force coastal winds are also expected to batter Northern Ireland, Wales and the north of England – with wind speeds on the south coast expected to be as high as 55mph.
However, beyond the warnings the weekend is due to end with dry and brighter weather – albeit with a wintery chill, with the majority of the country unlikely to be warmer than 11C on Sunday.
Mr Madge said: “Sunday begins relatively clear in most places, especially in the south, which should have a pretty good day on Sunday. But there is a change to a more northerly airflow and that could bring other changes with it – quite noticeably we could start to see wintery showers in some of the uplands of northern Britain – probably parts of Dumfries and Galloway, and the peak district, perhaps.”
He added that there would be “just a touch of wintriness” and the Met Office was “not necessarily suggesting that there’s going to be heavy snowfall but it could be the first snow that people see at least falling, even if it doesn’t settle for too long”.
