Flood Risk As Torrential Storms Bear Down On UK

“Severe weather warnings” have been issued to all regions in Wales and England except for the north-east today.

Senior forecaster Gareth Harvey said: “There are some quite active thunderstorms in the English Channel and they will move towards the south coast during the night”.

Some areas may receive as much as a month’s average rainfall over the next 36 hours.

Met Office officials are warning that the rainfall is likely to be “heavy and thundery” and there could also be torrential downpours in some areas.

Met Office officials are predicting that the rain will also become heavier and some areas could see as much as 70mm fall by the end of Friday.

“As we head into this evening and overnight, the area of rain pushes further north, into north wales, northern England and eventually southern and eastern Scotland”, Emma Sharples, a meteorologist at the Met Office, told The Independent.

The rain is expected to clear during Saturday with fresher weather and sunshine on the way.

“Some localised flooding is expected, so take particular care where roads dip, for example, on underpasses and under railway bridges, which are more prone to flood; and don’t assume fords will be safe to cross”.

“Flooding close to where you live may present less of a problem as most drivers know which are the hazardous stretches of road and can avoid them”. “Those on holiday face a more precarious challenge and asking local people where they might run into flooding is a wise move”.

The AA said motorists should only drive through water if they know it is not too deep and warned against driving through fast-moving water.

Forecasters have warned that total rainfall in England and Wales will be between 30mm and 50mm from today to tomorrow, with the risk of thundery downpours.

Drivers are advised to stay in their vehicle and telephone for help if trapped in water or wait for the flood to subside.

Heavy rain is expected across central and east Scotland on Friday with the potential for localised flooding.

“The rain may be most persistent and slow-moving in the south western half of England together with east Wales, but the risk of thunderstorms may be greatest in the eastern half of England with torrential downpours possible at times”.