West Midlands Braced For Heavy Rain After Record Temperatures

28 July 2019, 09:09 | Updated: 28 July 2019, 09:12

It's only been two days since the West Midlands and the rest of the country sweltered on the hottest July day ever.

Thursday brought travel disruption on the trains as services were delayed or cancelled, due to damage to overhead lines.

Now, the Met Office has issued a Yellow Weather warning for rain until midnight on Sunday.

Forecasters say the heavy rainfall could bring flooding and road closures, as well as potential delays to bus and rail services.

Meteorologist Mark Wilson said the next few days would bring a "mixed bag" of weather, but temperatures would be markedly down on Thursday's record-breaking highs.

He said: "The parts of the country covered by the weather warning (on Sunday) can expect to see some heavy rain. There is the potential for disruption with difficult driving conditions and it could affect things like buses or trains.

"The best of the weather on Sunday will be across south-west areas, where it will be fairly dry with sunny spells and highs of 23 or 24C."

Overnight on Saturday into Sunday, parts of Scotland saw approximately 40mm of rain, while Cumbria and the North West of England were also hit by downpours.

The potential for disruption comes amid repair work affecting the London St Pancras-Nottingham-Sheffield rail route this weekend.

East Midlands Trains (EMT) customers were told to check before heading out on their journeys and not to travel on the route due to a reduced timetable.

Meanwhile, passengers using Heathrow and Gatwick airports have had to contend with delays due to the extreme weather conditions across Europe.