Amber and Yellow National Severe Weather Warnings for rain have been issued for the weekend and Monday, covering northwest England, west and southwest Scotland, Northern Ireland and parts of Wales.

Numerous severe weather warnings have been issued for rain as it will persist through the weekend and into the start of next week. Amber warnings for rain have been issued for South Wales, and Cumbria where accumulations are particularly notable, with potentially over 200mm of rain over 48 hours. More widely, totals of 40-70mm are likely, with over 100mm on higher ground of western Britain and up to 50mm possible over higher ground in Northern Ireland. 

An Amber warning for Dumfries and Galloway, which was due to be in force until the end of Sunday, has been retired early as anticipated rainfall amounts now look less than previously expected.

Met Office Chief Meteorologist, Paul Gundersen said: “A slow-moving weather front stretching into the tropical Atlantic will continue to bring adverse conditions, and significant rainfall totals, to a section of western Britain and Ireland.”

Further afield, the weekend weather will be notably different. The southern half of the UK will be dry and bright, with much lighter winds too. Sunday will remain dry for many through the day, there will be more cloud which will be followed by the band of rain slowly moving southeastward through Sunday night and Monday. 

Heavy rain brings risk of flooding 

Jonathan Day, Flood Duty Manager at the Environment Agency, said: “Significant surface water flooding impacts are possible in parts of the North of England on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. There are also possible significant river flooding impacts in parts of the North of England on Sunday and Monday, with minor flooding impacts possible more widely across northern England over the weekend.

"Environment Agency teams are out on the ground, taking action to reduce the impact of flooding and support those communities affected. We urge people not to drive though flood water – it is often deeper than it looks and just 30cm of flowing water is enough to float your car. 

"People should search ‘check my flood risk’, get free flood warnings, and keep up to date with the latest situation at @EnvAgency on X.”‎

Further ahead 

The rain will cling on across the far southeast for a time on Tuesday, but for most other areas it will be a more settled day with dry and brighter weather. Further wet and windy weather will move in on Wednesday as another area of low pressure approaches from the Atlantic bringing a further spell of impactful weather across parts of the UK. 

Keep up to date with the latest forecast for your area using our forecast pages. You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook. Use our mobile app which is available for iPhone from the App store and for Android from the Google Play store.   

Rain drops falling into a puddle.