Wall of rain Met Office timetable as Gloucestershire given 24-hour severe weather warning
More rain is forecast to hit Gloucestershire on Sunday as yet another Met Office weather warning is issued. After the torrential rain on Friday caused localised flooding and clean-up operations on Saturday, the county is bracing itself for more prolonged downpours.
The severe weather warning for rain runs from midnight to 11.59pm on Sunday and covers the South West of England, as well as large parts of the Midlands, the south and south-east and up to northern England and all of Wales. There could be more disruption in the heavy rain, people have been warned.
In Gloucestershire, the localised Met Office forecast has light rain starting at 4am on Sunday and then heavy rain or heavy showers from 6am through to 7pm. More light rain then continues overnight into Monday when another weather warning is activated.
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Monday is forecast to see rain from midnight through to 7pm, with heavy rain from 10am to 7pm on another soggy day in the county. Temperatures will range from highs of 20C on Sunday to 18C on Monday.
No thunderstorms are specifically forecast in Gloucestershire. But the Met Office in its West Country forecast says there is a potential for heavy, perhaps thundery showers, developing as the rain moves across the region on Sunday.
Into next week, temperatures are set to be cooler with a few showers possible. There could be more wet and windy weather from the middle of next week.
On Friday, torrential rain brought chaos to large parts of Gloucestershire and surrounding areas. The M5 was reduced to a crawl while some vehicles were trapped in flood water on the A40 at Charlton Kings. Chosen Hill School in Churchdown was hit by flash-flooding and won't be able to open on Monday.
The bad weather continued in the West Country today, with Cornwall the most affected area so far on Saturday. Thunderstorms and heavy showers have struck parts of the UK, as forecasters warned of further unsettled weather over the coming days.
A weather warning for thunderstorms and heavy rain is in force across much of southern England and Wales. The yellow warning, which covers all of Wales and south-west England, the Midlands and parts of south-east and northern England, came into effect at 1am and lasts until midnight on Sunday.
Met Office meteorologist Becky Mitchell said: “The area we have seen most of the thunderstorms so far has been Cornwall, and there’s been some large hail reported there as well.” Ms Mitchell added that the southwestern county has also seen lightning.
She warned there was “probably quite a lot of water on the road”, after reports of about 30mm of rainfall in the area, which could lead to “tricky driving conditions”
“The only other place I’ve seen some thunder strikes was quite early this morning, about 6am, and that was in the Surrey and Oxfordshire region,” the meteorologist said.
She added: “We have got heavy showers across Wales and London at the moment too. We haven’t seen any thunderstorms with these showers yet but there’s still quite a while to go through the afternoon when we could potentially see some more.
“Typically as the afternoon goes on, we’ll see higher temperatures and the heat can help trigger the thunderstorms to kick off, so I expect through mid-afternoon we’ll see some more widespread ones."
Further heavy, thundery showers, potentially accompanied by large hail, are expected across parts of Wales and southern England. Some affected areas could see 50 to 80mm of rain.
Ms Mitchell said the weather is expected to remain “unsettled” over the next few days, with “potential for some localised flooding”.
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