Flood warnings issued as heavy rain predicted for parts of England

Heavy downpours could bring flooding and disruption to parts of England over the next two days, the Met Office has warned.

The weather will be “fairly unsettled” over the next few days, particularly on Sunday and Monday, according to Met Office meteorologist Greg Dewhurst, who urged people to “take care if you are travelling through the day on Sunday across southern counties”.

A yellow warning for rain covering the South West from 6am to 6pm on Sunday suggests there could be downpours of up to 40mm in few places.

The warning says: “Rain is expected to move north-eastwards across parts of south-west England on Sunday morning, persisting through much of the day before slowly dying out later in the afternoon.”

It adds that 15mm to 25mm of rain is “likely quite widely” and up to 40mm in a few places, and that “with saturated ground, this may lead to some flooding and disruption”.

The Environment Agency had issued 62 flood warnings and 168 flood alerts in England by Saturday evening.

Persistent rain is also on the cards for London and the South East where a yellow rain warning running from 3pm on Sunday to 9am on Monday suggests widespread downpours ranging from 15mm-25mm and up to 40mm locally.

The warning says: “Rain is expected to arrive across Sussex and Kent during Sunday afternoon, persisting through the night before slowly clearing on Monday morning.”

Mr Dewhurst added: “We are keeping an eye on this area of low pressure as it moves into southern counties of England and Wales over the course of Sunday and into Monday.

“It will bring some heavy rain and some strong winds as well. This rain is falling on saturated ground and could lead to some localised flooding problems.”

Sunday’s temperatures are set to reach around 7C-9C and there should be generally light winds, “but stuck under some cloud and with showers passing through it will feel chillier than the numbers suggest”, particularly across southern areas where double figures are expected, he added.

The rain will push into the South East by the evening.