UK weather: Travel chaos warning as downpours and 50mph winds to cause flash floods

6 October 2020, 08:15 | Updated: 6 October 2020, 08:29

By Naomi Bartram

@naomibartram

The Environment Agency has issued 10 flood warnings as rain and wind are set to batter the UK.

We’ve already faced a very wet and windy few days, with most of the country seeing heavy downpours over the weekend.

But it looks as though the bad weather is set to continue, as the Environment Agency has now issued 10 flood warnings and 36 flood alerts across England.

These are in place across the country including Worcestershire, Leicestershire, Somerset and Dorchester.

As we head into Tuesday, showers are expected to move across into the Midlands and eastern England, while western Scotland and Northern Ireland will also face outbreaks of rain.

On Wednesday, the wind and rain will move across southwest Britain during the day, while temperatures will remain around 15C.

While rain will remain patchy into Wednesday, low pressure on Thursday will bring a band of heavier showers and stronger winds.

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It could even be officially named as a storm by the Met Office, while persistent heavy rain could lead to flooding in parts of England and Wales.

BBC forecaster Chris Fawkes said: "This is going to bring a return to some heavier, more persistent outbreaks of rain later this week and that could bring some renewed localised flooding.

"That could cause one or two problems."

He added: "Perhaps some of the showers becoming really lengthy across north Wales, Merseyside, Greater Manchester - quite windy in the afternoon in the southwest with gusts of 50-odd mph.”

There may be delays or cancellations to train and bus services, while spray and flooding could lead to difficult driving conditions and some road closures across the country.

This comes after Britain has already seen more rain in just six days than is usual for the whole of October.

The Met Office said parts of Somerset and Hampshire saw a month's worth of rainfall in 42 hours, while The River Coquet burst its banks at Rothbury in Northumberland.

After heavy downpours in parts of Scotland, train passengers were warned to expect disruption after Network Rail inspectors discovered flooding on lines in Fife, Aberdeenshire and Angus.