Warnings issued for more rain following a week of floods
Simon King
Lead Weather Presenter
Matt Taylor
Lead Weather Presenter
More rain is forecast from Sunday, after some parts of southern England saw up to four times September’s average rainfall during the week.
Strong winds are also expected, with Met Office yellow weather warnings issued for both rain and wind.
The wet and windy weather may bring further flooding and travel disruption into Monday and Tuesday.
Met Office issues yellow warning for rain
Met Office yellow warning for rain issued for later Sunday and into Monday morning
Despite a break from the rain on Saturday and parts of Sunday, the ground remains very saturated, and river levels are high in parts of England and Wales.
Parts of Bedfordshire, Oxfordshire, Hampshire and Herefordshire have already had in excess of three month’s worth of rain this September.
Woburn in Bedfordshire has had four times its average rainfall and therefore its wettest month on record.
Therefore even a relatively small amount of extra rain on Sunday could lead to localised flooding.
Image source, BBC Weather Watchers / mikespencerpics
Further rain falling on already saturated ground could lead to flooding
Rain will move in during Sunday morning from the south-west and spread further into Wales and central southern England by the end of the day.
The rain is not expected to be as intense as that seen over the last week.
However, with around an inch (25mm) of rain possible within the warning area, there could be some impacts. The Met Office yellow warning for rain, which is valid from 1600BST Sunday to 0900BST Monday, also states that there could be over three inches (80mm) of rain on some hills in the south-west of England and south Wales.
Heavy rain will then spread to other parts of England and Northern Ireland during Monday and Tuesday. It could persist for some, adding to flooding concerns.
Strong wind warning issued for Sunday
The Met Office has issued a yellow warning for wind on Sunday
Strong winds will accompany the area of low pressure and rain as it moves in through Sunday.
Much of west and south Wales, and south-west England will experience the strongest gusts.
A Met Office yellow warning for wind has been issued from 09:00 to 23:59 BST on Sunday.
Gusts of 50-55mph (80-89km/h) are expected quite widely with some exposed areas potentially seeing gusts in excess of 60mph (97km/h).
Coastal areas may see large waves and water overtopping with some disruption to transport networks.
When will the rain stop?
The low pressure – responsible for the wet and windy weather – will start to retreat to the east through Tuesday, although strong winds may persist in eastern England.
We should then have a few days of quieter weather with little rain in the forecast.
By the end of the week, low pressure is likely to return bringing more rain and strong winds to parts of the UK.
Read our latest thoughts on the longer-term forecast with our monthly outlook.
