Heavy rain, lightning and hail are set to lash parts of the UK following a weekend of downpours which caused flooding in many areas and saw the transport network struggling to cope.
The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for rain across Wales and areas of north-west England, which it said could cause disruption due to localised flooding later on Monday into Tuesday.
Early on Monday morning the Environment Agency listed 72 localised flood warnings across England and Wales, advising people “action is required” and also recorded 164 alerts for possible flooding, warning people should “be prepared
The remnants of Hurricane Lorenzo, a former category 5 storm in the central Atlantic, may also cause high winds to reach the UK.
The brunt of the storm is forecast to hit the Azores islands off Portugal with winds up to 100mph on Tuesday, but could then spin close to Britain by Thursday.
Met Office forecaster Nicola Maxey told The Independent: “We’ve got a warning in place from 3pm today through to midnight, and that covers south and mid-Wales and through to the north Midlands and Northern England, for rain.
“We’ve got an area of heavy rain, with 15-30mm expected to fall quite widely, with 40mm over higher ground in South Wales. And that’s falling on already wet ground as we’ve had quite a lot of rain this weekend, so it could cause localised flooding and disruption, so it could impact rush hour this evening.”
A further weather warning for rain on Tuesday covers the area south of Birmingham down to the south coast, including south Wales, but not all of Cornwall and Devon.
Thundery downpours with the possibility of hail is expected across the south west, moving to the south east by the afternoon.
“We’re going to see some heavy rain,” Ms Maxey said. “We could see 40-50mm possible in only a couple of hours. The clouds are quite slow moving which is why you get this build-up of rainfall.
“There’s also a chance you might see some lightning and hail mixed up in those as well.”
The warning for Tuesday is in place from 6am – 10pm.
“We’re working very closely with the Environment Agency to assess where the heaviest rain will be, and there are hydrologists who work with the agency and with the Met Office to work out the impact the rain will have on river catchments and surface water issues,” Ms Maxey added.
She also confirmed the possibility Scotland could see its first snow of the season this week.
“There is colder air coming down from the north, through Wednesday and Thursday and there is the possibility we may see snow over the tops of the highest mountains in Scotland. It’s fairly normal for this time of year, and there’s nothing unusual about it – it will just be on the tops of the mountains. We’re not just about to see six foot of snow on Plymouth Hoe or in the middle of Manchester, it’s just the mountain tops in Scotland.”
Ms Maxey also said in addition to rain and the localised flood risks, there is additional concern due to the spring tides, which have been the highest of the year – posing a threat to coastal areas.
Later in the week, more unsettled conditions are expected, partly due to Hurricane Lorenzo, which has now diminished to a category 2 storm. “By the time it comes to the UK it will be an ex-tropical storm, it won’t be a hurricane anymore,” Ms Maxey said.
The Met Office’s computer weather models are yet to reach a consensus on how Lorenzo will move after it leaves the Azores, but some suggest the storm could pass by the UK entirely, others indicate it could bring strong winds to the north of Scotland, and others point to it crossing the south west of the UK.
“It’s quite difficult to say what the exact impact will be, but we’re looking at potentially some wet and windy weather through Thursday and into Friday, but exactly how strong the winds will be and where we see the rain is a little bit uncertain at the moment.”
Following the weekend’s downpours, there was no train service from Sheffield to Manchester due to water on the tracks, and there were speed restrictions in the opposite direction.
The operator warned it had imposed speed restrictions on many parts of its network due to safety concerns.
Northern Rail asked cycling fans turning out for the final day of the UCI Road World Championships in North Yorkshire on Sunday to rethink their travel plans after the route had to be changed to avoid flooding. The fanzone in Harrogate also had to be closed.
Despite the heavy weather, the Men’s Elite Road Race went ahead, although organisers had to amend the route to skip some of the most scenic parts of the Upper Dales.
Undeterred by the appalling weather, thousands of fans lined the route with umbrellas and wellies to watch one of the biggest events on the cycling calendar.
