Heavy rain as unsettled weather hits ahead of Easter
Parts of the UK are facing heavy rain on Wednesday morning with more unsettled weather expected heading into the Easter weekend.
A yellow rain warning issued by the Met Office, which began at noon on Tuesday, is in place until the same time on Wednesday across the south west of England, Wales and parts of the West Midlands and north west along the border.
Whitechurch in west Wales saw 50.2mm of rain on Tuesday with the Met Office predicting some places covered by the warning could see up to 75mm while it is in place.
The eastern part of Northern Ireland was also covered by a yellow warning which came into place at 2am on Wednesday and runs until 9pm.
The Met Office said persistent rain, which will be heavy at times, would develop throughout the day with most of the warning area seeing 20-30mm, although high ground in Co Antrim and Co Down could see 50-60mm before the rain eases from the west during the evening.
While the warning says flooding is possible, chief meteorologist Matthew Lehnert said “significant impacts are not anticipated” following recent dry weather.
The Environment Agency has issued a flood warning, where flooding is expected, on the River Torridge between Dolton to Bideford in Devon. There are 14 alerts, where flooding is possible, in place in the south east, Devon and Cornwall on Wednesday morning.
Mr Lehnert said the conditions were linked to a low pressure system moving in from near Portugal.
Rain, cloud and brisk winds are expected to move north throughout Wednesday, turning drier in the south with some sunshine.
The Met Office said many people should see dry and bright conditions with a few showers on Thursday with spells of rain between brighter interludes into the Easter weekend.
The unsettled conditions are expected to continue throughout the weekend, with a risk of hail and thunder from Sunday, before a spell of more dry and sunny weather next week.
Temperatures on Tuesday ranged from minus 2.2C in Loch Glascarnoch in the north of Scotland to 17.4C in Frittenden, Kent.
