The Met Office has weather warnings in place today, including one for rain across south Wales and another covering Cumbria and Lancashire, as it forecast bleak conditions
Almost five inches — around one month’s rainfall — is set to lash across parts of the UK today.
Flooding is likely and conditions on roads will be treacherous throughout the day, particularly in the morning. The band of low pressure is sweeping in from the west, and lead to especially heavy rain across south Wales, the Southwest of England and parts of the Northwest of England.
The Met Office has now detailed when exactly rain is anticipated for each area subject to the four weather warnings in place today. Weather maps show red hues — denoting the heaviest downpours — across western parts of the UK, such as south Wales and Dumfries and Galloway, in the early hours.
By 6am, most of Wales will see heavy rain, though it will be strongest across north Wales. During rush hour, Wales, Merseyside and Lancashire will bear the brunt of the deluge, say forecasters.
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Most of the UK will see rain by midday though southern areas, like Glamorgan, Devon and Somerset, will be on high alert for flooding and travel disruption during lunchtime. The weather maps show red and orange hues in these areas as we enter this afternoon.
The Southwest of England will be particularly wet during the afternoon. At around 3am, the low pressure will sweep over the Home Counties and the Cotswolds. It will also be quite windy across southern counties during the late afternoon, according to meteorologists.
Showers will be slow to clear and, during the evening, rain will be heavy across Oxfordshire, Berkshire and, later, across the capital. The weather warnings remain in place throughout the day, as forecasts are concerned about flooding, power cuts and travel disruption.
The weather warnings state up to 120mm (nearly five inches) of rain are expected, particularly across south Wales, mid Wales, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Cumbria, throughout the day. Typically, Swansea sees around 110mm of rain across the whole of December while Manchester experiences approximately 100mm. Around 80mm of rain falls in Bristol, also subject to a warning, across an average December.
Met Office Chief Forecaster Rebekah Hicks said: “Heavy rain will move over south Wales from late Sunday and through Monday. Whilst rainfall amounts will vary, the largest accumulations are expected over the highest ground in south Wales and could reach 100-120mm through the day. 60-80mm is most likely for many hills within the Amber warning area, while those to lower levels should see around 20-40mm through the day.
“Wider yellow warnings for rain have also been issued for the southwest and northwest of England, central and northern parts of Wales, as well as southwest Scotland, with disruption also possible in these areas through the day.”
