Warning: Yellow
To expect: Rain
Affected area: Multiple, listed below
Start time estimate: Thursday 1am
End time estimate: Thursday 10pm
The Met Office has announced a Yellow rain alert for several regions across the UK for Thursday.
The warning is covering parts of East Midlands, East of England, London and South East England, North East England, South West England, Wales, West Midlands, Yorkshire and Humber. All local areas affected are listed below.
The regions should prepare for substantial rainfall, starting on Thursday at around 1am and ending at 10pm.
The Yellow warning for rain was announced at 11:23am on Tuesday, October 21.
A Met Office forecast said: “A complex area of low pressure over the mid-Atlantic early this week is expected to move towards the UK whilst deepening, but confidence in the details of its track and intensity as it crosses the UK remains fairly low. Despite these uncertainties, there is at least a medium likelihood that an extensive, and in places heavy swathe of rain will move into southwestern Britain during Wednesday evening and spread quickly northeast, with totals by early Thursday morning of widely 20-30mm, and for some places 30-50mm. There is a small chance a few places could exceed this, most likely over North Devon and Cornwall and more generally in the east of the highlighted area. In association with the rain, conditions are expected to turn windy with a chance of gales, initially along southern and eastern coasts, but more widely across southern Britain during Thursday daytime.”
What to expect
Spray and flooding on roads leading to difficult driving conditions and increased chance of accidents, making journey times longer; Public transport affected in places with some journey times taking longer; Flooding of a few homes and businesses is likely.
What should you do during heavy rain?
Check if your property could be at risk of flooding. If so, consider preparing a flood plan and an emergency flood kit.
Give yourself the best chance of avoiding delays by checking road conditions if driving, or bus and train timetables, amending your travel plans if necessary.
People cope better with power cuts when they have prepared for them in advance. It’s easy to do: consider gathering torches and batteries, a mobile phone power pack and other essential items.
Be prepared for weather warnings to change quickly: when a weather warning is issued, the Met Office recommends staying up to date with the weather forecast in your area.
For further details see Met Office Warnings & Advice.
Full list of local areas affected
East Midlands
Derby, Derbyshire, Leicester, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, Rutland
East of England
Bedford, Cambridgeshire, Central Bedfordshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Luton, Norfolk, Peterborough, Southend-on-Sea, Suffolk, Thurrock
London and South East England
Bracknell Forest, Brighton and Hove, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Greater London, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Medway, Milton Keynes, Oxfordshire, Portsmouth, Reading, Slough, Southampton, Surrey, West Berkshire, West Sussex, Windsor and Maidenhead, Wokingham
North East England
Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, Stockton-on-Tees
South West England
Bath and North East Somerset, Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole, Bristol, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, North Somerset, Plymouth, Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Swindon, Torbay, Wiltshire
Wales
Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend, Caerphilly, Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil, Monmouthshire, Neath Port Talbot, Newport, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Swansea, Torfaen, Vale of Glamorgan
West Midlands
Herefordshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands Conurbation, Worcestershire
Yorkshire and Humber
East Riding of Yorkshire, Kingston upon Hull, North East Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire, North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, York
What is a yellow weather warning?
The Met Office has three categories of weather warning, depending on the likely impact of severe weather and also how likely it is to strike in a particular area.
A yellow warning is issued when weather conditions are expected to disrupt travel and traffic and may impact on daily routines but are not likely to pose a risk to life or property.
An amber warning is more severe and advises people to think about changing their plans to minimise the risk.
A red warning means weather conditions are expected to be dangerous with widespread damage to property and a risk to life, with the public usually advised to avoid travelling.
The Yellow weather alert for rain will remain in place until 10pm on Thursday.