Rain eases for now — but downpours still to come

Dozens of flood warnings remain in place and drivers are urged not to try to travel through floodwater.

Britons are getting a break from the heavy downpours which have hit parts of the nation over recent days but there is still some rainfall to come.

Flooding is expected in 34 areas in England, mostly in the South and also the East and the North East, according to the Environment Agency flood warnings on Sunday afternoon.

A further 140 alerts are in place for possible flooding spanning from the North East and Midlands down to the South East and South.

It comes after Storm Ciaran battered the south coast and the Channel Islands with heavy rain and gusts of up to 100mph on Thursday, leaving nearly 150,000 homes without power.

Much of the UK saw dry and sunny spells on Sunday with top temperatures of about 12C-13C, which is just above average for this time of year, according to Met Office meteorologist Simon Partridge.

He said: “The good news is that the majority of the showers that are around are down the western side of the UK away from a lot of the worst flooded areas, so not too much in the way of rainfall for the south coast and the South East and North East.

“It is just western parts of Scotland, England and Wales which will see some showers that are quite heavy when they come and the odd isolated rumble of thunder is possible.

“For most places it is a dry day with reasonable sunshine around – even though those showers are quite heavy they will move quite quickly and not hang around for very long.”

People with umbrellas in the wet weather in Piccadilly Circus, London (PA)

The majority of the showers in Northern Ireland are around the north and the west, with south-eastern parts there also having dry and sunny spells.

With a number of flood warnings and alerts still in place, the Environment Agency has renewed calls for drivers not to risk trying to travel through floodwater, pointing out that an egg cup-full will damage your engine and 12in/30cm will float your car.

It comes after East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service said it issued an urgent warning to motorists after being called to incidents where cars have become trapped in floodwater.

In a statement, it said: “We continue to urge motorists to take extra care on the roads. Our crews have continued to work hard overnight and into this morning.”

The weather is set to remain unsettled this week, with sunshine and blustery showers for many plus a band of heavy rain is expected on Wednesday.

Mr Partridge said: “The one thing that is an area that we are keeping an eye on is that there is a further band of rain that pushes across the whole of the UK on Wednesday.

“It will see wet and windy weather on Wednesday moving across all parts of the UK, with some locally heavy rain.”

At the moment, this is being monitored to see whether it could cause problems.

Mr Partridge added: “By then we would have had three solid days where river levels could have recovered so hopefully by then things will not be quite as sensitive as they are now.”