More rain and wind set to hit ‘flood-sensitive’ northern England

More rain in northern England could lead to further flooding in already sensitive areas, the Met Office has said.

The Environment Agency has warned of worsening conditions across the Pennines and parts of Yorkshire, and said that ongoing river flooding remains “probable” for the English-Welsh border around the River Severn for the rest of the week.

As of Thursday evening, there are five severe flood warnings which pose a danger to life and less serious 81 flood warnings in place.

The more extreme warnings remained near the English-Welsh border, around the rivers Severn, Wye, and Lugg, where many people have already experienced flooding.

The Met Office has issued weather warnings for rain for central and south-western Scotland all day Friday, and parts of Yorkshire for Friday morning.

While Wales will not be hit with more deluges of rain on Friday, meteorologist Craig Snell said: “There are no signs of anything majorly dry coming through which is what people need in the flood-hit areas.”

Mr Snell continued: “From the word go on Friday we’ll be having rain into parts of Scotland, Northern Ireland and northwest England and it’s really going to set in there throughout the day.

“The other talking point for Friday will be the strength of the wind, it’s going to be quite gusty in the north.”

Honister Pass in Cumbria, one of the wettest areas of the UK annually, recorded 185mm of rain in 36 hours on Thursday while 72 mm was recorded in Shap, Cumbria.

Capel Curig in Snowdonia, north Wales, recorded 86mm of rain in 36 hours after setting Wednesday’s record for rain with 80mm in a single day.

Northern parts of England could see winds up to 65 mph on Friday, which could cause transport delays and adverse driving conditions.

The Met Office has said Yorkshire is one of the most sensitive areas to rain at the moment, with only small amounts of rain potentially causing further flooding.

Mr Snell said: “Rainfall amounts tomorrow are not exactly too high but the warning is because the ground is so wet.”

The northern county is expected to see 20-30mm of rain falling, which could increase to 60-80mm in some areas.

“Given the recent wet conditions, even that amount of rainfall may cause some further flooding to occur,” Mr Snell added.

The weekend is expected to bring more wet weather, with the possibility of sleet and snow on high ground in Scotland.

Mr Snell said: “Saturday is going to be a day of sunshine and gusty showers, the showers wintry across the north, chiefly across the high ground and we could see a bit of wintriness at lower levels but nothing amounting to too much at the moment.”

Mr Snell added the Met Office are monitoring an area of low pressure approaching the UK which could bring another spell of strong winds to Scotland, northern Ireland and northern England.

He said: “Combined with the wind we would see the risk of further heavy rainfall and also potentially some snow as well for Scotland.”

Hundreds of people have been evacuated from their homes in the worst-affected areas following days of flooding in the wake of Storm Dennis.

A fundraiser launched by Good Omens actor Michael Sheen on Wednesday evening has since doubled its initial target of collecting £10,000 for Welsh people affected by Storm Dennis.