Exact date 600-mile 'wall of rain' could hit UK as experts warn of flash floods
19 August 2025, 13:15
Only eight areas in Britain are set to miss out on the intense rainstorm, predicted to soak the UK in a matter of weeks – here's where and when it will arrive.
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Weather maps have shown a 600-mile 'wall of rain' could hit the UK in a matter of days as Tropical Storm Erin continues to wreak devastation across the Atlantic.
Flash-floods and heavy downpours are expected to batter the country towards the end of the summer holidays as wet and cold conditions creep into August.
The category 4 hurricane has been causing a deadly impact to its surrounding areas over the last week, with forecasters suggesting Brits will feel the repercussions of its force any day now.
Now, experts have explained that a huge rainstorm is heading towards the country, leaving only eight counties set to skip the intense soaking.
WXCharts's long-range predictions currently show Aberdeenshire, Somerset, Middlesex, Kent, Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, and Cambridgeshire will likely miss the torrential downpours.
According to the Express, around 3mm of rain will fall each hour in northern England on Thursday 28th August with another large downpour on 29th August drenching other areas.
Southern central Wales will likely be hit the hardest, with up to 18cm of rain that Friday, followed by a dangerous 31cm in northern Wales on 1st September.
Plummeting temperatures are also expected alongside the rainfall, which has been predicted to last for approximately 24 hours.
Chilly lows of 5C could blast central Scotland, while other parts of England are looking at a rapid drop to around 10C following the blistering heatwave.
The Met Office's long-range forecast from 19th August to 28th August explained the wet conditions all depend on Tropical Storm Erin's movements, despite it being far away.
The weather service explained the hurricane "brings an increasing possibility of stronger winds and rain, some of which could be heavy and thundery, especially for southern and western areas, but this perhaps becoming more widespread with time".
The Met Office added: "One of the determining factors of the forecast through this period will be the behaviour of what is currently Tropical Storm Erin as it progresses into the Northern Atlantic; this being quite a typical source of uncertainty in the late summer."
Despite fears of the impending 'wall of rain' hitting the UK 'all at once', BBC meteorologist Simon King suggested that it was not certain and told Brits not to panic.
He said: "These reports are simply suggesting that the low pressure containing the remnants of hurricane Erin would be 600 miles wide as it moves to the west of the UK, a size very typical for this type of weather system that affects the UK.
"Rain doesn't fall in a continuous sheet stretching for hundreds of miles so there'll be no 'wall of rain' to come with it either."
He did agree that the incoming UK weather will be 'unpredictable' but explained that as the storm was not close, it was difficult to make accurate forecasts.
He added: "Into next week the weather will eventually turn a little more unsettled with the remnants of what will be ex-hurricane Erin.
"While Erin is still over 3,000 miles away from the UK, it will eventually weaken as it moves across the North Atlantic and arrive to the west of the UK as an area of low pressure – a process we often see in the UK from mid-August as the hurricane season starts to pick up.
"And being over a week away, there are still lots of uncertainties with the forecast, but we could see some wet and at times windy weather from mid-week."
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