Thundery showers to continue across already sodden southern half of UK

Thundery showers to continue across already sodden southern half of UK

Heavy and thundery rain will persist across the southern half of the UK on Sunday as a particularly soggy spell for the region continues.

Flooding, travel disruption and power cuts could all affect communities in central and southern England and Wales after the band of wet weather moved further inland from coastal areas, the Met Office said.

Up to 100mm of rain could fall over a short period of time in some areas by Sunday evening.

The forecaster has issued a yellow weather warning for rain, covering almost the whole of southern and central England up to South Yorkshire and all southern Welsh counties, which remains in place until 6pm on Sunday.

Further warning updates could be issued during that time, including an escalation to amber on a more localised scale.

It comes after three consecutive days of heavy rain, starting on Thursday, lashed different areas of southern England and Wales.

The Environment Agency issued 17 flood alerts, meaning flooding is possible, across Devon, Cornwall and the East Midlands as of Saturday evening.

It added that much of southern and central England was at low risk of flooding impacting on properties and causing travel disruption.

Met Office chief meteorologist Matthew Lehnert said: “Further spells of rain are likely to affect southern Britain this weekend, generating some localised impacts on Saturday night and Sunday.

“It’s a different story further north though, as high pressure brings warmer and sunnier conditions, with higher-than-average temperatures, particularly across parts of western Scotland.

“Eastern areas are likely to be cooler and at times cloudier due to winds blowing off the North Sea.

“We are keeping warnings under review and will look to issue them over the weekend as confidence increases.”

Rainfall amounts will vary considerably on Sunday, with some areas seeing 40-60mm of rain and some spots potentially set for up to 80-100mm, with the latter more probable in the southern half of the warning area, the Met Office said.

Some sunshine is likely to develop in the South East, but this will be offset by further slow-moving thunderstorms.

Lengthy sunny and dry spells are still expected further north in a continuation of recent days, but conditions will be turning cloudier and more mild.

The showers will continue to move in a northwesterly direction while spells of heavy rain will affect many central and southern areas.

Cooler, fresher temperatures are widely expected across the country into next week with a generally unsettled outlook, the forecaster added.