UK weather: Torrential rain warning extended as thunderstorms and heavy downpours hit Britain

Met Office extends yellow weather warning into Sunday

A weather warning for torrential rain has been extended as downpours and thunderstorms continue to hit the UK after weeks of dry weather.

The Met Office’s yellow weather warning for rain in Northern Ireland on Saturday has been extended into Sunday and now encompasses parts of Scotland.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has issued 13 flood alerts due to this weekend’s weather and has urged people to be prepared and plan essential journeys.

Mark Franklin, flood duty manager for SEPA, said: “We are asking people living and working in affected areas to plan their essential journeys and consider any necessary steps they need to take now to be prepared.”

Flood warnings are currently in place across western Scotland including Dumfries and Galloway, Ayrshire and Arran and the Inner Hebrides, West Central Scotland including Glasgow, and parts of the Borders.

Alex Deakin from the Met Office said: “Low pressure will dominate through the weekend and into next week and churning around this low pressure, we’re going to see slow moving weather fronts.”

Heavy downpours have affected much of the UK following the recent period of dry weather (Getty Images)

A yellow weather warning indicates a small chance of disruption, flooding and delays or cancellations in travel.

The Republic of Ireland’s weather agency, Met Éireann, has also issued yellow warnings to all parts of Northern Ireland, as well as similar warnings to small craft marine and sea travel off the West Coast of Ireland.

In the UK, the Met Office said heavy showers and thunderstorms were moving across North Yorkshire on Saturday afternoon and towards parts of Teesside into the evening.

The forecaster warned: “Expect heavy downpours of rain leading to difficult travelling conditions for a time with hail also possible in places too.”

The heavy rain and thunderstorms are part of a large patch of low pressure, which will dominate the weather for the coming week.

Jason Kelly, deputy chief meteorologist at Met Office, said: “Whilst we are confident that low pressure will dominate the weather well into next week, the day-to-day forecast is not certain at this stage. But more generally, each day there will be a risk of showers or longer spells of rain for many areas of the country.

“It is likely that more prolonged showers will bring a risk of thunderstorms too. And in some areas, most likely in the southwest, rainfall totals will build through the week.”