Flood warnings as parts of the UK see month’s worth of rainfall in 48 hours

A dozen flood alerts are in place and a yellow weather warning is in place until 12pm on Saturday

Eight flood warnings and more than 50 flood alerts are in place across the UK after some areas saw almost a month’s worth of rain in 48 hours.

Parts of Dartmoor, Devon, recieved almost a month’s worth of rainfall (125 millimetres) in 48 hours.

Honister Pass in Cumbria saw 110 millimetres in 48 hours, but had received “two months of rain in the past week”, the Met Office said, resulting in the flooding of 40 properties.

The Environment Agency said on Saturday morning there were eight flood warnings across the UK, meaning that flooding is expected, and 51 flood alerts, meaning that flooding remains likely.

Heavy rainfall has caused major damage and disrupted travel in Scotland, leading to a yellow weather warning and a dozen food alerts.

The yellow weather warning, issued by the Met Office, is in place until 12pm on Saturday.

The downpours are expected to impact Dumfries and Galloway, the Borders and part of the Central Belt, including Glasgow, the Met Office said.

Another alert for heavy rainfall has been issued for south-west Scotland on Sunday and will be in place until 6am Monday morning.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) has 12 flood warnings in place for areas in Dumfries and Galloway, Moray, Borders and Tayside.

Two bridges spanning the River Annan were washed away by the rainfall and firefighters were called to a rescue operation in Whitesands, Dumfries.

People in Dumfries and Galloway have been urged by police not to park near the River Nith, which police said is due to flood the Whitesands area of the region on Saturday.

Dumfries and Galloway VOST, a group reporting major incidents in real-time, said the East car park in Whitesands has closed as water levels continue to rise.

A spokesperson for the group urged residents in the area to remove their vehicles adding, “it’s estimated that the river will come out of the channel at 11am with the peak at 2pm”.

A major incident was declared in Hawick on Thursday amid fears up to 500 properties could be flooded.

Travel has also been disrupted in Scotland, with Network Rail warning passengers about issues with cross-border train services.

Some operators advised passengers to avoid travelling due to the extreme weather conditions.

Rail services on the line between Dumfries and Carlisle were also cancelled to allow safety checks on a viaduct near where the bridges were damaged.

Services from London to Glasgow were cancelled ahead of the much anticipated Cop26 climate change conference.

Annie Shuttleworth, forecaster for the Met Office, said that after gradually brightening weather on Saturday, “torrential rain” showers would briefly return overnight.

“It’s been a wet start for many of us with a band of heavy rain moving eastwards through the country... bringing fairly heavy downpours,” she said.

“This evening we’re going to see a similar band... (and) we’re expecting localised flooding and there will be some travel disruptions and the rain will most likely last a bit longer into Sunday.

“The weather we’re experiencing is fairly typical for autumn although we’re seeing fairly regular heavy downpours... there’s not been a lot of respite between the rain.”

Ms Shuttleworth added that despite a week of above average temperatures for October, conditions would drop into the low single digits in the coming days.

PA