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Flood alerts have been issued in England and Wales ahead of the forecast for heavy rain before Christmas, as the Met Office issued a weather warning after the rains over the weekend.
A yellow weather warning for rain in central and south Wales, as well as southern England, is in effect from 6am Wednesday to 6am Thursday, with between 50mm and 70mm of rain expected to fall. in South Wales. Disruptions in travel and power lines are expected, and officials have warned people to be vigilant for possible flooding.
The Environment Agency has also issued eight flood warnings for areas where heavy rain is expected, including in areas near Camp Keswick in Cumbria, the River Don and the River Dutch at West Cowick in East Yorkshire, the Cogenhoe Mill caravan site. in Northamptonshire, between Worcester and Gloucester along the Severn and parts of Wareham in Dorset.
There are also sixty-eight flood alerts, for places where they are likely to occur, in England and Wales.
Clearer skies are expected over much of Scotland and Northern Ireland, where temperatures will be cooler and coastal rains are expected.
Simon Partridge, a forecaster with the Met Office, said: “We’ve had quite a bit of rain in recent weeks across much of the southern half of the UK so at the moment the ground is quite saturated and river levels are already quite high.
“There is a risk of localized flooding within the warning area and there will also be dangerous driving conditions.
“Parts of the Southwest in particular have already seen some flooding earlier in the week, so this will really add to the current problems in some of those places.”
A series of flood warnings and alerts were implemented across South Wales last weekend after torrential rains.
Natural Resources Wales said it was advising people to be on the lookout for flood alerts and warnings in the lead up to Christmas Day, reminding people not to try to walk or drive through flood water.
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are expected to be cold but dry, good news for many people across the country hoping to reunite with loved ones outside due to coronavirus restrictions.
“Although there will not be a snowy white Christmas, there will be a very widespread frost across much of the UK first thing in the morning on Christmas Day,” Partridge said.
