Map shows where heavy rain is set to hit UK with Storm Ciarán approaching
Parts of the UK will be deluged with rain today, the Met Office predicts, as the country prepares for Storm Ciarán to hit on Wednesday.
As shown on our map, an amber warning has been issued for south east Northern Ireland while a yellow warning has been declared for the north east and southern and central parts of the country.
A yellow warning has also been issued for much of the south coast of England.
The Met Office said heavy rain, some thundery, is set to hit these areas this afternoon.
An amber warning is the second highest warning after red, and indicates ‘severe weather’, with a potential ‘risk to life and property’. In today’s case, ‘fast flowing or deep floodwater’ is possible, said the Met Office.
Yellow warnings are the lowest alert the Met Office can issue and tell Brits the weather will cause some ‘low-level impacts’, such as travel delays.
Tomorrow is set to be dry in the far north of England, while a mix of cloud and rain showers is forecast for the rest of the country, especially across the southwest and Northern Ireland.
Caused by a deep area of low pressure, Storm Ciarán is due to arrive on Wednesday evening and carry on into Thursday, bringing with it a spell of heavy rain and gale force winds.
Met Office deputy chief meteorologist, Chris Almond, said: ‘Winds associated with Storm Ciarán are likely to gust to 80mph along the south coast of England, with a small risk of somewhere exposed seeing 90mph, and winds could even gust up to 50 or 60 mph further inland.
‘This deep low-pressure system will also bring heavy rain to much of the UK, but the heaviest rain is expected in southern and western areas with 20 to 25mm quite widely across the region but up to 40 to 60mm potentially over higher ground.
‘Heavy and persistent rain will fall onto already saturated ground bringing a risk of further impacts such as flooding in areas that are already struggling to clean up from the heavy rainfall we have seen over the last week or so.’
The storm is forecast to gradually move away to the east on Friday, but people should expect relatively wet and windy weather still, potentially carrying on in a similar vein through the weekend.
Parts of the UK are still recovering from Storm Babet, which hit a little over a week ago and caused severe flooding in several areas and seven deaths.
There was also heavy rain over the weekend, leading to more flooding issues.
Meanwhile, Littlehampton and Wick, a town near Worthing in West Sussex was hit by a freak tornado on Saturday night that tore off the roof a house.
The Tornado and Storm Research Organisation (TORRO) confirmed a tornado with a T4 rating – meaning ‘severe’, with winds between 115-136 mph – had hit the area.
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