Met Office yellow warning as Brits set to be battered by rain and flooding

26 February 2024 , 06:14

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Heavy rain is set for parts of the UK (Image: PA)

Brits are being warned by the Met Office of of up to 4cm of rain and flooding that could lead to road closures and “communities cut off”.

A yellow warning for rain from the national weather agency covers the south east of the country and is due to a low pressure that has come in from the Atlantic bringing torrential downpours over the weekend.

The showers on already saturated ground means that flooding is a possibility and the Environment Agency also has 60 flood warnings in place across England with the majority in the south and east.

Met Office forecaster Jonathan Vautrey advised people to take care due to disruption from the rain. “With this rain falling on already very saturated ground, there is the potential for localised flooding and do take care overnight and even into the start of Monday we could see some disruption around in places,” he said.

“Elsewhere there’ll be some clear spells overnight, showers pushing into the far north and as these start falling on frozen surfaces where we see temperatures plummeting away, we could see some icy stretches forming first thing on Monday morning.

Gales, snow and rain to batter country today with 80mph wind gusts

A yellow warning from the Met Office (Met Office)

“Generally further south east temperatures will hold up a touch more underneath the more widespread cloud here but it does mean it will be a fairly drab and grey start to the day. The rain as well could take until the afternoon to properly clear off, the likes of East Sussex and Kent.”

The yellow rain warning covers East Sussex, Greater London, Kent, Medway and Surrey. It states: “Persistent rain perhaps leading to some flooding and disruption.”

Maps from WXCharts shows rain clouds on Monday morning

What to Expect

• There is a small chance that homes and businesses could be flooded, causing damage to some buildings
• Where flooding occurs, there is a slight chance of delays or cancellations to train and bus services
• Spray and flooding could lead to difficult driving conditions and some road closures
• There is a small chance that some communities will become cut off by flooded roads

The Met Office states: "Rain is expected to arrive across Sussex and Kent during Sunday afternoon, persisting through the night before slowly clearing on Monday morning. 15 to 25 mm rainfall is likely widely, perhaps with as much as 40 mm in a few places. With the ground already saturated this may lead to some flooding and disruption."

The outlook for other parts of the UK away from the south east which could enjoy a largely fine day. Mr Vautrey added: “As we look ahead to a new week things will be starting on a fairly high note for many of us and that is due to an area of high pressure that is waiting in the wings out in the Atlantic, ready to move to the UK on Monday."

Tim Hanlon