TORRENTIAL rain and thunderstorms will continue to soak Britain this weekend as weather warnings cover large parts of the country.
The Met Office has issued a yellow warning for heavy showers and thunderstorms across England, Wales and Northern Ireland on Saturday.
The warning runs from midday until 23.59pm, and affects the Midlands, the North and South East, North and South West of England, Northern Ireland and Wales.
A further yellow warning of rain runs until 6am on Sunday.
Forecasters say rain will be the “main hazard” today but “thunderstorms are likely”.
Torrential downpours are likely in a few places, bringing around 20 mm of rain in less than an hour and 30-40 mm in a couple of hours.
Lightning and hail may also occur.
Forecasters say many places will miss the worst of conditions, but warned of the potential for some transport disruption and possible flooding.
This could include spray, standing water and hail affecting driving conditions, delays to train services, loss of power and possible flooding.
National Highways advised drivers to plan ahead and take care on the roads, with fire services across the country also encouraging caution.
Met Office forecaster Greg Dewhurst said up to 40mm (1.6in) of rain is expected to hit the areas within its warning on Saturday.
“On Saturday we will see a band of heavy rain push north-eastwards across the UK, followed by sunshine and heavy showers,” he said.
“Sunday will see the heavy rain clearing to bright and sunny spells and heavy showers in the east.”
The wet start to the weekend comes after areas including London have already seen a month’s worth of average rainfall for August with 12 days still to go.
But temperatures will climb to around 20C in northern areas, and London could see 25C on Sunday.
Met Office meteorologist Simon Partridge said the worst of the downpours are likely to land on western areas on Saturday, and in the Midlands and eastern areas on Sunday.
He said: “It could be fairly unsettled with some rain on Saturday, with the driest day being Friday.
“The east and south east will remain fairly dry on Saturday, while in the west it will be quite a wet affair.
“Sunday could be wet in some places and we might need some rainfall warnings.
“It does look as if the Midlands and eastern areas could have a pretty wet Sunday – but there’s also a lot of uncertainty in it.”
Hull, Norwich, Newcastle, and Aberdeen are among eastern areas to be hit by heavy rain on Sunday, with breeze coming off the North Sea.
But, the good news is that after a few more days of rain, warm weather will reach our shores, says Met Office meteorologist Alex Deakin.
He said: “There are signs of drier and sunnier weather ahead, coming next week.”
The low pressure sweeping across Britain is being followed by high pressure.
“That high may well dominate for much of next week.
“It will be drier, sunnier and warmer – and as it’s August there’s still some power left in the sun so it will feel a fair bit warmer next week,” Mr Deakin added.
This was echoed by Netweather TV, which said: “Next week high pressure tries to build in and settle the weather down which might last for the late August Bank holiday.
“That would bring something fine and drier, but it does not mean that there is a heatwave on the way.”
The Met Office’s long-range forecast, for August 24 till September 3, predicts: “Temperatures are likely to be a little above average for this time the of year.”
DAMP BRITAIN
Met Office meteorologist Simon Partridge said the City of London has had 117 per cent of its usual August rainfall already.
He added that 60mm of rain fell on the capital up to August 17 compared with 51mm usually seen over the entire month.
Northern Ireland has had 90mm of rain – 90 per cent of its 97mm average for the month.
East Anglia and north-east England have been the driest areas, having only had 43 per cent of their average August rainfall so far at 24mm and 30mm respectively.
The Sun reported that this summer is already one of the most miserable for a decade, statistics reveal.
Source: The Sun
