Southern England set for thunderstorms and heavy downpours across the weekend

More heavy rains are expected across the UK on Friday, as this week’s heavy downpours show no sign of letting up.

A number of yellow and amber weather warnings are in place throughout the country, with southern England set to endure heavy rains with a chance of thunderstorms and strong, gusty winds in the far south and south-west.

The Environment Agency has 27 flood warnings and 60 less severe flood alerts in place across England- although the north-west looks to be mostly exempt.

While the rain is expected to clear later in the day in some places, and the forecast is drier for the weekend, temperatures are still expected to be lower than expected for this time of year.

Met Office Chief Meteorologist, Neil Armstrong, said: ‘We are expecting an area of slow-moving showers and thunderstorms to develop this afternoon and evening across parts of the Midlands. The rain will fall onto already saturated ground, potentially affecting communities still recovering from recent flooding. An Amber warning has been issued covering the areas of increased risk of impacts’

‘Some places, especially across the central and eastern parts of the warning area, are likely to receive 30 to 40 mm of rainfall in three hours or less, and perhaps 50-60mm in total this evening and overnight. A number of Yellow warnings for rain have also been issued, you should keep up to date on the latest forecast for your area on our forecast pages.

Kate Marks, Flood Duty Manager at the Environment Agency, said: ‘Heavy rainfall across the country means that significant river and surface water flooding impacts are possible in parts of central England today and into Friday. Minor river flooding impacts are also possible in parts of north-east England today and Friday.

‘Environment Agency teams continue to be out on the ground, supporting local authorities in responding to surface water flooding. We urge people to plan their journeys carefully, follow the advice of local emergency services on the roads and not to drive through flood water – it is often deeper than it looks and just 30cm of flowing water is enough to float your car.

Met Office Deputy Chief Meteorologist David Oliver said: ‘The rain will clear south during Friday allowing Arctic air to cross the country. This gives a much colder but quieter interlude in the south on Saturday, although a few showers will spread across northern areas. An area of low pressure then moves in from the southwest later in the weekend and crosses the UK during Sunday and Monday.’

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