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Heavy rain is forecast for several parts of the country overnight as wet and windy weather is expected to lead to a “nasty storm” later in the week.
The Environment Agency has issued 72 flood warnings as the latest group of severe weather approaches, leading to the next storm, named Storm Ciaran, on Wednesday evening.
And the Met Office has put yellow rain warnings in force for Sunday for south Wales, southeast England and eastern Scotland up to Newcastle.
A further warning applies to Northern Ireland on Monday.
The forecaster warns that recent rainfall could cause disruption to roads and public transport and even a “risk to life” from flooding in Scotland.
Flooding occurred across Sussex over the weekend, including at Priory Meadow shopping center in Hastings, which was evacuated on Saturday. People posted on social media that deep floodwaters were flowing through the entrance.
A caravan park in Bognor Regis was also under water on Sunday. The town’s Tesco supermarket car park was flooded while a house had its roof ripped off by fierce winds which residents described as a “tornado”.
Met Office meteorologist Marco Petagna said: “There have been various warnings across the UK in recent days and many more will be issued over the next few days.”
“The main focus over the next day or two will be the east of Scotland, north-east England, where a yellow rain warning is in place until 3am.
“There will be persistent rain up there and then the focus of heavy showers will be over parts of south and southeast England, south Wales and parts of Northern Ireland, with some heavy and sudden showers also occurring.”
He said Tuesday was expected to be still unsettled but calmer before strong winds and extended periods of rain develop overnight Wednesday into Thursday as Storm Ciaran arrives.
He said: “Some exposed southern areas may experience gusts of 80 to 90mph. It’s probably going to be a pretty big storm.”
Kate Marks, flood defense manager at the Environment Agency, said: “We urge people to stay safe on the coast and take extreme care on coastal paths and promenades.” It is also possible that low-lying coastal roads will be flooded, and one must avoid driving through floodwaters as just 30cm of flowing water is enough to move the car.
“People should check their flood risk, sign up for free flood alerts and keep up to date with the current situation at @EnvAgency on X, formerly known as Twitter, for the latest flood updates.”
The weather is expected to worsen throughout the week with rain warnings in place until Wednesday and a “deep low pressure area” which has been dubbed Storm Ciaran by the Met Office is expected to arrive on Thursday, bringing strong winds and heavy rain in the southern parts of England and Wales.
Met Office deputy chief meteorologist Chris Almond said: “Winds associated with Storm Ciaran are likely to reach gusts of up to 80mph along the south coast of England, with a small risk of winds of 90mph somewhere exposed per hour, and winds could even reach 50 or 60 miles per hour further inland.
“This deep low pressure system will also bring heavy rain to much of the UK, but the heaviest rain is expected in the southern and western areas, with 20 to 25mm across the region, but possibly up to 40 to 60mm in the higher areas Layers.” Ground.
“Heavy and persistent rain will fall on already saturated ground, bringing the risk of further impacts such as flooding in areas already struggling to recover from the heavy rainfall we have seen over the last week.”
Source : www.independent.co.uk