UK braced for three days of heavy rain as flood warnings issued

Dozens of flood warnings and alerts have been issued as parts of the UK are braced for three days of heavy rain.

Severe weather warnings are in place for northwest England, parts of Wales and the South West, with “persistent” rain forecast on Sunday – while further warnings have been issued for Monday and Tuesday.

More than 30 flood warnings – meaning flooding is expected and immediate action is required – have been issued by the Environment Agency.

A further 175 flood alerts, urging people to be prepared for possible flooding, are also in place.

The Met Office said “rainfall totals are starting to mount up” after torrential downpours hit central and southern parts of the UK on Saturday.

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Met Office forecaster Mark Wilson said: “It’s going to be a pretty unsettled 24 hours – we’ve already had pretty heavy rain across central and southern parts of the UK and those rainfall tallies are starting to mount up.

“It’s going to be quite wet across much of England, Wales and Northern Ireland and it will be quite windy particularly across the south coast, although through Sunday it will slowly clear its way eastward.

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“There’s quite a wet day to come across most of northern England with some heavy showers moving up from the south – we will see some strong winds too.”

A mudslide in North Yorkshire caused by heavy rain blocked train lines between Lancaster and Skipton earlier on Saturday.

Image: Two women try to keep dry during the Porthcawl Elvis Festival in Wales

The inaugural Regatta London race, which was due to take place on the River Thames on Sunday, has been cancelled following the warnings of bad weather.

Organisers said it was not safe to run the event due to “stormy weather” affecting the water quality of the river.

Gwent Police reported on Saturday that sections of road in the county were under water, while South Wales Police also warned of treacherous conditions.

South Wales Police also reported “some really poor driving conditions” due to the wet weather.

Source : Sky News : http://news.sky.com/story/uk-weather-parts-of-britain-braced-for-three-days-of-heavy-rain-as-flood-warnings-issued-11822544