Met Office issues another weather warning ahead of weekend downpours

Three severe weather alerts for thunderstorms and heavy downpours have been issued for the next three days

The Met Office has issued a third weather warning in as many days, ahead of a dismal weekend drenched in rain. A severe weather alert warns of heavy rain and possible floods across the South West, with some areas set to be soaked with up to 80mm of rain over the weekend.

Forecasts predict a deluge commencing from around 12am on Sunday, September 22, and is set to last a full 24-hour period. Affected areas may be hit by flooding, travel disruption and potential power outages as a result of the bad weather.

Devon, alongside its neighbours in the South West, is included in the weather warning, with rains anticipated to begin at around 10pm on Saturday night and not letting up until Sunday afternoon. It comes after two previous thunderstorm warnings issued by the Met Office.

One such alert came into effect today, Friday, September 20, at 12pm and is set to end at 8pm, only to be followed by another starting at 1am, stretching right up until 11.59pm.

Met Office Chief Meteorologist Jason Kelly said: "Thundery downpours have developed across parts of southern England, and will last into Friday evening, bringing frequent lightning, gusty winds, hail, and spells of heavy rain.

"The risk of thunderstorms persists into the weekend with potentially longer spells of heavy rain for some along with a continued risk of hail and lightning accompanying the most intense storms. Parts of the Midlands, southern England and east Wales appear at greatest risk of seeing these conditions."

"The warnings cover the areas of the country most at risk of seeing thunderstorms but not everyone within a warning area will experience a thunderstorm. For many much of the time it will remain dry."

Met Office Deputy Chief Meteorologist Dan Harris added: "The area of persistent and at times heavy rain that we are expecting to have developed by the end of Sunday will most likely continue for some parts of southern UK through at least the first part of Monday, before starting to clear eastwards."

"By this time however, confidence falls sharply in terms of both its exact location, and rainfall amounts. We are keeping a further warning for Monday under review, so please keep up to date with the latest forecast for your area."

On Sunday, those affected by the weather warnings can expect:

• Spray and flooding could lead to difficult driving conditions and some temporary road closures.
• There is a small chance that some rural communities will temporarily become cut off by flooded roads
• Significant delays or cancellations to train and bus services are possible.
• Homes and businesses could be flooded, causing damage to some buildings
• There is a small chance of power cuts and loss of other services to some homes and businesses.

The Met Office has warned: "Showers and thunderstorms are expected to merge into broader areas of heavy rain across parts of Wales, central and southern England during Sunday. Whilst the strongest signal for impactful rainfall totals appears to be centred across east Wales and west-central England, there is potential right across this highlighted region for some areas to see 30-50 mm in less than 6 hours, with a few places receiving 60-80mm over the course of 12-24 hours.

"Southwest England looks likely to see some heavy rain during the early hours of Sunday morning, breaking up into slow-moving, heavy and in places thundery downpours during the day time. Meanwhile, the areas of heavy rain are likely to continue pushing north and west, becoming slow moving across some northern and possibly eastern reaches of the warning area during the rest of Sunday."