‘The worst is yet to come’ as Britain braces for more heavy rain and flooding

The Met Office has warned that “the worst is yet to come” as parts of the UK see up to a month’s worth of rainfall in 24 hours. A 24-hour amber warning for rain was in place for parts of North Wales and north-west England, including Manchester and Liverpool, from midday on Wednesday.

A yellow warning for rain covers northern England, the Midlands and north and central Wales until 6am on Thursday, while another is also in place for southern and eastern Scotland until 6pm tomorrow.

Much of the south coast is likely to see lightning, with a yellow storm warning in place until 7pm on Wednesday. Tom Morgan, a meteorologist at the Met Office, told the PA news agency that “the worst is yet to come”.

He said: “There was a lot of rainfall overnight in north-west and south Scotland, as well as in areas such as the Midlands, East Anglia and the Home Counties.

“The wettest area was Drayton Parslow in Buckinghamshire, which recorded 68.8mm in the last 24 hours. That’s almost a month of rainfall in one day. By comparison, most other areas saw an average of half a month of rain during the same time period.

“But there is still plenty of rain to come over the next 12 to 24 hours, particularly in North Wales and NW England. There could be some flooding in North Wales by midday on Thursday.”

Jonathan Day, flood service manager at the Environment Agency, said: “Heavy and persistent rain means significant inland flooding is likely in parts of north-west England and possible more widely today and tomorrow.

“Significant surface water flooding is also possible in southern England where heavy showers and thunderstorms are likely. Environment Agency teams are on the ground and ready to respond, including possibly operating flood basins in the Greater Manchester area to store water.

“We urge people to stay away from swollen rivers and not drive through floodwater – it’s often deeper than it looks and just 30cm of flowing water is enough to float your car.”

Conditions are then expected to improve as the low pressure responsible for the wet weather begins to drop. The Met Office’s Mr Morgan said: “The bank holiday week is likely to see a mix of sunshine and showers, with temperatures expected to return to the low 20s.”