UK weather: Flood alerts after ‘exceptionally wet’ November as temperatures to plunge

Scandinavian winds to bring ‘coldest spell of the autumn so far’ next week, says Met Office

Scores of flood alerts are in force across Britain as forecasters warn that a further downpour of rain will round off what has already been an “exceptionally wet” November.

The month also is likely to end with “the coldest spell of the autumn so far”, with temperatures predicted to plunge as low as -3C in southern England and the mercury stuck in low-to-mid single figures throughout the day in parts of the country, the Met Office said.

While the week ahead is set to bring “widespread” cold, courtesy of Scandinavian winds, it will also offer a respite from the near-relentless rainfall of recent weeks – but not before a final spell of wet weather douses parts of southern England with up to 30mm of rain.

As a result, the Met Office has issued a weather warning for rain stretching from Arundel to Rye and almost to Crawley in the north, which will be in force until midnight.

In affected areas, the national forecaster is warning that some homes and businesses could be flooded. Drivers could see their journeys delayed by surface water, while bus and train services may also see disruption.

The Environment Agency has urged residents to expect flooding in three locations in England – near Peterborough, Littlehampton and Dorchester – and is bracing for potential flooding in 50 other locations across the country.

Scotland’s Sepa agency has issued six flood warnings in the Tayside area, concentrated along sections of the River Earn and River Isla, while a flood alert remains in place near rivers in Welsh county of South Pembrokeshire.

“It’s been a fairly wet day so far but we’re expecting another spell of heavy rain to push in this evening, so that could bring potentially around 20 to 30mm in some parts,” Met Office meteorologist Becky Mitchell told The Independent.

“Normally these rainfall amounts wouldn’t cause too many issues but it’s been really quite exceptionally wet across the southeast already this month, so [there is] potential for any smaller amounts of rain to cause some flooding impacts.”

“The southeast of England has already had 176 per cent of its average monthly rainfall, which goes to show how wet it’s already been,” Ms Mitchell said.

However, the rain is set to clear from around midnight and “actually, for the last few days of November it looks like high pressure should take charge”, bringing dry but chilly and cloudy weather, according to the forecaster.

“The reason for the cloud is that we’ll have a lot of mist and fog around in the mornings, which will be quite slow to clear, so overall dry, chilly, foggy for much of the week,” she said.

The UK’s coldest temperature so far this autumn has been -5.9C in Aviemore, recorded only a few days ago – however the mercury may drop even further in rural Scotland in the days ahead, with the rest of the UK also feeling the cold bite.

“That was a very localised cold spot whereas actually these low temperatures are going to be more widespread throughout this week,” said Ms Mitchell, adding that “it will feel a lot colder [than] it has done recently”.

“That’s mainly because we’re getting quite a brisk easterly wind developing, so cold air’s going to come in from Scandinavia.”

“Temperatures have been as low as -2C in Exeter so far this autumn, but we could see temperatures as low as -3C in southern England this week,” said Ms Mitchell.

“Day-time temperatures will be stuck in low-to-mid single figures in some parts of the country too, particularly where it’s foggy, so it will likely be the coldest spell of the autumn so far.”