Yellow weather warning for rain extended – with flooding expected in parts of England

A yellow weather warning has been extended across more parts of England as the Met Office forecasts “heavy and persistent rain” that could give rise to flooding and strong winds.

The initial yellow Met Office warning covered parts of London and the south of the UK from 9am until 10pm on Thursday.

It says there may be some surface water flooding due to heavy rain falling on saturated ground.

An update issued early on Thursday also included the Midlands, South West, and eastern England in the warning, which now also advises of strong winds.

“Rain will also be accompanied by strengthening winds through the afternoon and evening, particularly across southern and South East England, where gusts around 50mph may be possible along some exposed coasts,” the updated warning said.

Sky News meteorologist Dr Christopher England said: “It’ll be another very wet day in the south, with 50mm of rain possible in places, bringing a risk of localised flooding and coastal gales near the eastern Channel, but at least it’ll be warmer than last week, with no significant snow.”

It comes after a major incident was declared in Kent and Sussex after around 30,000 properties were left without a water supply due to burst pipes and power cuts.

Storm Goretti brought gusts of almost 100mph and a red warning for “dangerous, stormy” winds in the South West of England last week.

Meanwhile, the Environment Agency has three flood warnings in place for England, with flooding expected. There are also 40 flood alerts where flooding is possible.

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The yellow weather warning says flooding of a few properties is possible, while rail and bus services will likely be affected, with longer journey times, and there could be flooding on roads.

Between 20 and 30mm of rain is anticipated fairly widely in the warning area, with 40 to 50mm possible in a few isolated spots, the forecaster said.

Met Office spokesman Stephen Dixon said on Thursday it would “be drier for much of the north of England, Scotland and Wales, but northwest Scotland could see some showers”.

“An area of low pressure is going to bring heavy and persistent rain to parts of southern England and will be accompanied by some gusty winds at times,” he said.

“There’s the possibility of travel disruption for some and the possibility of flooding in a few places as well.”

Winds of 35 to 45mph may hit parts of the south at times, Mr Dixon said.

There will be some showers in western areas on Friday, and patchy cloud elsewhere, with similar weather forecast over the weekend, Mr Dixon added.

On Monday, the UK government said the wintry weather had triggered its cold weather payments scheme.

Pensioners and low-income households will automatically receive £25 for every seven consecutive day period of very cold weather under the scheme, which covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland.