Weather today: Storm Babet set to bring month’s worth of rain to UK

These pictures show waves crash agains the shoreline in Dorset, where a flooding alert is in place along coastal areas.

Teignmouth on the Devon coast is not covered by a weather warning from the Met Office this week – however, these waves show the windy conditions the town is facing.

The Environment Agency has issued a flood alert for the county’s coastal locations due to the high river and tidal levels.

Heavy rain and wind are forecast for the south west of England today.

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution has urged the public to show “extreme caution”, particularly on exposed cliffs, seafronts and piers.

It comes as the Met Office has upgraded its weather warnings for parts of the UK this week – with Storm Babet expected to bring downpours and strong winds, starting in Northern Ireland on Wednesday.

The storm is then forecast to move across Scotland and parts of England.

Strong south easterly winds will create dangerous conditions along the east coast of the UK, with large waves an additional hazard, said the Met Office.

Under yellow warning – Argyll and Bute, Ayrshire and Arran, Caithness and Sutherland, Dumfries and Galloway, Easter Ross and Great Glen, Edinburgh and Lothians, Fife, Findhorn Nairn Moray and Speyside, Scottish Borders, West Central Scotland

Under Amber warning – Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen City, Central, Dundee and Angus, Tayside

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is asking residents to be prepared as Storm Babet is set to lash heavy rainfall on an already saturated ground.

The forecasters predict Babet will bring heavy rain and high winds across Scotland from today evening, starting in the southwest before moving across to the northeast through Thursday and into the weekend.

“Impacts from surface water and rivers are likely, and with catchments saturated from recent heavy rain and flooding, we’re urging people to be prepared for potential flooding,”

David Morgan, flood duty manager for SEPA, said.

“There is also concern that surface-water flooding may be exacerbated by debris blocking drainage, culverts, etc. as a result of the high winds.”

“Flood Alerts and Warnings will be issued as required, and we continue to work with the Met Office to monitor the situation 24/7,” he said.

Storm Babet will start to make its presence felt from today as the latest Met Office forecast shows showery outbreaks of rain throughout the day.

Some heavy rain is expected for Northern Ireland from this afternoon to tomorrow morning, with possible travel and power disruptions, the Met Office has said.

The rain will begin spreading northwards to parts of the UK, becoming persistent and locally heavy later, the forecaster says.

The day will begin dry and bright across Scotland but gusty winds are expected to become widespread with coastal gales developing.

As the day progresses, rain, heavy at times, will continue to move north, reaching all but northern Scotland by dawn.

Met Office spokesman Stephen Dixon says this week is going to be “a disruptive period” for the UK and Ireland.

“There’s some high totals (of rain) which have the potential to disrupt travel plans… (there’s) the possibility of power cuts, as well as the obvious risk of flooding.

“As you look at Wednesday, the first pulse of rain is looking to particularly influence Northern Ireland, Wales and the south-west of England, and into Thursday.

“But as you move from Thursday and into the week, that shift very much focuses more towards central and eastern Scotland, but also some central and eastern areas of England as well.”

The Met Office has upgraded a weather warning for rain in eastern Scotland to amber, as some areas could see more than a month’s worth of rain in a few days.

The warning is in place from 6am on Thursday to 6pm on Friday.

Separate yellow warnings are in place for Northern Ireland from 2pm on Wednesday until 10am on Thursday, and across vast swathes of Scotland and northern and eastern England from 6am on Thursday to 6am on Saturday.

Forecasters have warned of dangerous driving conditions and “fast-flowing and deep floodwater” that could pose a danger to life.

As much as 150 to 200mm of rain could fall on central and eastern areas of Scotland, including in communities badly hit at the start of October by weather so bad it was compared to the Beast from the East in 2018.

Scotland typically receives around 168mm of rainfall in October but the country will receive more than this amount in the span of a few days.

Parts of England can expect more than 100mm of rainfall during the week, with some isolated areas facing up to 150mm.

The UK Met Office and Irish forecasting agency Met Eireann have issued a range of warnings due to the arrival of the storm.

Storm Babet will first bring some heavy rain to Northern Ireland through this afternoon and into Thursday morning.

Rain warnings for every county in the Republic of Ireland were in place overnight, having come into effect at various stages yesterday.

A Status Orange rain warning is in place along Ireland’s southern coast for counties Cork, Kerry and Waterford.

That warning is due to the risk of flooding, dangerous road conditions and possible wave overtopping at high tide amid heavy rain and strong gusts.

The advisory is due to expire at 1pm, with the Status Yellow rain warning for the rest of the country ending between 6pm-8pm.

As Storm Babet tracks north-east, however, it will also batter the UK with heavy rain and high winds.

Yellow severe weather warnings have been issued across the week until Saturday for a vast swathe of the UK, covering already-saturated parts of Scotland, Northern Ireland, and northern and eastern England.

The Met Office said people in the region can expect spray and flooding which may lead to difficult driving conditions and some road closures for the duration of the yellow warning for rain, which comes into effect at 2pm and expires at 10am on Thursday.