More heavy rain expected across England and Wales, Met Office warns

The Met Office has issued new yellow weather warnings for rain on Thursday and Friday, after days of thunderstorms and downpours caused flooding across parts of central and southern England.

Warnings for heavy rain are in place for most of England, excluding the north-west and parts of the West Midlands, and much of Wales.

The Environment Agency has 27 flood warnings and 60 less severe flood alerts in place across England.

Heavy rain over the weekend and Monday saw houses and businesses flooded, roads and fields submerged in water, rail services cancelled and delayed, rivers overflowing, and even a football stadium closed in London after a sinkhole formed.

The Met Office also issued a yellow warning for rain in Northern Ireland from Wednesday evening until noon on Thursday. Heavy rain could lead to flooding and transport disruptions in places.

BBC Weather’s lead presenter Simon King said the rain is not expected to be as heavy as in recent days, but could still lead to flooding due to water levels already being high in places.

The warnings issued for the week ahead are:

• For southern England, southern Wales and parts of the Midlands from 10:00 BST onwards on Thursday
• A continuation of that warning for southern England and southern Wales into Friday until 10:00 BST
• A separate warning covering northern England east of the Pennines and north-east England between 10:00 BST on Thursday and midnight

Up to 100mm of rain is possible around the Pennines and North York Moors, which would amount to about a month’s worth of rainfall.

Less rain is expected elsewhere but heavy downpours are still forecast for many.

While the rain is expected to clear later on Friday and the forecast is drier for the weekend, temperatures are expected to fall below the average for this time of year.

Several parts of the country started the week with persistent rain and flooding.

Emergency services rescued 43 people from a holiday park in Northampton on Tuesday evening, after caravans were left surrounded by water from a nearby river which had burst its banks.

Areas including Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire and Warwickshire were among the worst hit on Monday, the Met Office said previously.

Some places experienced more than a month’s worth of rain in a matter of hours over the weekend and Monday.

Football team AFC Wimbledon in south London said its pitch sustained “significant damage” after the nearby River Wandle broke its banks.