UK braces for potential amber weather warning as thunderstorms set to unleash weeks' worth of rain

Storms
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Millions of Brits have been put on alert for "slow-moving thunderstorms " that could wreak havoc across the UK, with existing warnings potentially being upgraded if conditions deteriorate.

A yellow weather warning for rain has been issued for Saturday night and Sunday, covering vast areas of the country, stretching as far north as Manchester from 9pm tonight until 6pm on Sunday. The southeast is bracing for heavy rain and thunderstorms tonight, which will evolve into a more organised band of rain across central and western regions into Sunday.

Earlier today, the Met Office issued yellow warnings for the conditions. They have now indicated these may be escalated to amber.

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Met Office chief meteorologist Matthew Lehnert stated: "Further spells of rain are likely to affect southern Britain this weekend, generating some localised impacts on Saturday night and Sunday. We currently have a yellow weather warning for rain in place, and there's potential for further updates over the weekend."

He added: "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, so please keep up to date.", reports the Mirror.

Parts of the UK could see between 40-60mm of rain by Sunday evening, with more expected in some isolated spots, potentially reaching up to 100mm, according to the Met Office.

The Met Office's yellow warning states: "Whilst there remains some uncertainty with exact details, areas of heavy and at times thundery rain are expected to spread north, then west, across England and Wales from this evening and overnight."

It goes on to say: "These areas of heavy rain may become more persistent across western areas during Sunday daytime whilst slow-moving heavy showers and thunderstorms are likely to develop further east. Rainfall amounts will vary considerably across the warning area with some locations seeing less than 10 mm of rainfall whilst others see 40-60 mm of rain."

Importantly, it adds: "There is a lower chance a few spots within the warning area could see 80-100 mm of rain by the end of Sunday which may fall in a fairly small period of time. These higher totals are slightly more probable in the southern half of the warning area."