BRITAIN was braced for severe disruption today with up to a month’s rain set to fall in 24 hours.
Gloomy forecasts suggested the wet weather would continue to blight the summer as the Environment Agency issued nearly 90 flood alerts and warned of a “potential danger to life”.
Heavy downpours were predicted to hit the Midlands, Yorkshire and Wales, raising fears that householders could be forced to flee in a repeat of scenes last month – the wettest June on record.
The Met Office also issued an amber warning to parts of Scotland, including the Lothian and Borders and Strathclyde Police force areas.
Forecasters said up to 60mm of rain could hit central and northern England today – the same amount that would be expected to fall over the course of an average July.
The deluge was expected to cause difficulties on roads and bring further devastation to areas which were badly hit just two weeks ago.
The Environment Agency said prolonged heavy rain could cause serious problems across the north Midlands, north-east Wales and southern parts of northern England.
“In those areas where severe disruption is possible, there could be widespread flooding affecting significant numbers of properties and whole communities with a potential danger to life and a risk of motorists becoming stranded,” it said.
The Met Office has issued a severe weather warning for many parts of the country.
And Chris Burton, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, said the conditions were “very unusual” for this time of year.
“We could see up to 50mm of rain fall quite widely over central and northern areas and, locally, we could see quite a lot more than that, with heavy, thundery downpours. Next week it is not going to get any drier.”