UK Weather: Big freeze and flooding set to batter Brits from either side
The Met Office has forecast a month of washouts and floods in southern areas and has told transport chiefs and councils to prepare for significant disruption in areas battered by flooding
The Met Office has forecast a month of washouts and floods(Image: PA)
Floody February is on the way for the sodden South of the UK while big freezes are set to bring snow to the North.
The Met Office has forecast a month of washouts and floods in southern areas and has told transport chiefs and councils to prepare for significant disruption. The forecaster said that “wet and windy weather will persist” in areas already battered by flooding.
In a further blow, the rain is likely to continue later in the month. It added: “From February 14 to 28 still has areas of low pressure likely to bring further spells of wet and windy weather.
“It’s so wet as a south‑shifted jet stream is firing Atlantic lows straight at the UK, with a blocking high over Europe trapping them here.”
Devon and Cornwall, which have recently been hit hard after being battered by Storm Ingrid and Storm Chandra in quick succession, are on alert for another two inches of rain today (Mon) from a further 700-mile wide Atlantic downpour.
The Environment Agency said further inland flooding is possible more widely in the south on Monday and Tuesday, adding: “Land, roads and properties may flood and there may be travel disruption.”
Storms Ingrid and Chandra have already flooded homes and submerged roads and railways. Last week, the Met Office said it had been the second wettest January for Cornwall since 1836 and the ninth wettest for Devon.
The north won’t escape miserable weather over the coming weeks either with a Scandinavian shiver arriving on northern England’s higher ground. Snow will threaten more widely from Friday with chilly 4C days and -5C nights.
The colder conditions are set to last in the north for most of the month.
The Met Office said: “There’s a greater chance of colder air spreading across the northern UK at least, bringing an increased risk of wintry hazards, with temperatures later in February still a little below average in the northeast of the UK.”
Motorists are being warned of ice patches on untreated roads as temperatures plunge following Storm Chandra.
A yellow ice alert was issued on Sunday for the south-west of England, parts of Hampshire, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The Met Office issued the alert from 10pm on Sunday through to 9am on Monday and also warned of the potential for fog patches. The latest warning comes after heavy rain, snow and storms throughout January.
A Met Office spokesman said: “With wet surfaces following recent rain and temperatures falling close to or below freezing, icy patches will be possible on untreated surfaces for a time on Sunday night into Monday morning.
“The extent of cloud cover across parts of Wales and central southern England is more uncertain, which will influence whether temperatures fall sufficiently low enough to allow ice to form. A few fog patches may pose an additional hazard.”
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