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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Robyn Vinter

UK weather: more heavy rain as Met Office gives four yellow warnings

Dawn skies over the UK
Dawn skies over the UK after a night of heavy rain. Photograph: Geoffrey Swaine/Shutterstock

The UK will continue to be battered by heavy rain caused by the coming together of two storms, Elin and Fergus, with four yellow weather warnings for rain in place for Monday.

The Met Office said heavy rain is expected in the north-east of Scotland including Aberdeen, the south-west of Scotland and most of the north-west of England and West Yorkshire.

The warnings will continue through the start of next week into Wednesday, with heavy and frequent showers and strong winds along the coasts predicted.

The Met Office said: “Although there will be a brief drier interlude for many on Monday, further unsettled weather is likely on Tuesday as the next area of low-pressure moves in from the west. This could bring with it some heavy rain at times, as well as some strong winds on exposed coasts.”

Storm Elin arrived on Saturday, causing damage to the rail network resulting in cancelled trains. Some motorists were left stranded in surface flood water, with a woman and a dog needing to be rescued from a submerged car at Maesbury Marsh in Shropshire.

On Sunday the wet and windy weather was followed by Storm Fergus, a second storm, which was also named by the Irish meteorological service, Met Éireann.

The Met Office predicted two bands of rain across most of the UK, with the worst of the rain on Sunday in Northern Ireland and the west of Scotland.

Gusty winds were reintroduced alongside the rainfall, especially in western areas, due to a deep area of low pressure moving towards the Republic of Ireland later in the day, the forecaster warned.

Members of the public are being warned to continue to expect travel delays in the coming days, with road, rail, air and ferry transport affected. Coastal routes, sea fronts and coastal communities are also set to be affected by spray and large waves, the Met Office said.

Storm Fergus is expected to bring further rain with a risk of hail and thunder, and strong winds, particularly in southern parts of Wales and along the Bristol Channel.

The Met Office chief meteorologist Andy Page said wet and windy weather was “the main theme of the forecast this weekend”, adding that wind and rain “could be disruptive at times”.

A yellow rain warning was in place across the north of England overnight on Saturday, which cleared in the early hours of Sunday morning before four new warnings were put in place. There are 50 flood warnings spread across England for expected flooding, with a further 246 flood alerts where flooding is possible, according to the Environment Agency.

In Wales, there are five flood alerts, according to Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymru (Natural Resources Wales), while Sepa, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, has issued nine flood alerts and three flood warnings.

Flood duty manager at the Environment Agency, Kate Marks, said: “Minor river flooding impacts are expected across parts of England until Tuesday after recent heavy rainfall and with further rain on Saturday.

“Minor surface water flooding is likely across parts of Somerset, Devon and Dorset on Saturday, with further minor impacts also possible elsewhere,” she added.

“We advise people to stay away from swollen rivers and urge people not to drive through flood water as just 30cm of flowing water is enough to move your car.”

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