A top forecaster has warned the ‘unpredictability’ of the incoming Storm Benjamin makes it hard to tell which area of the UK will be met with the worst of the bad weather
Millions of Brits have been warned to brace for torrential rain as multiple areas of the UK face downpours in the next week, a top forecaster has told the Mirror.
Up to 60mm – over two inches – of rain is forecast across eastern parts of Wales, the Midlands, and areas up north, with the Met Office sounding weather warnings for the incoming Storm Benjamin.
Benjamin is expected to shake up British shores at midnight, which is when the first yellow weather warning comes into effect.
A rain warning will be issued across both southern and eastern parts of Britain, with heavy flooding expected to occur due to the levels of rainfall. These potential floods could hamper driving conditions and cause delays to public transport, according to the Met Office.
British Weather Services’ senior meteorologist Jim Dale told the Mirror: “That’s long period of heavy rain, it’s not showers…it’s going to lay down some, and obviously with the wind as well, that mixture leaves flying left right and centre — probably a few trees down here and there. It’s a heady mix.”
Combined with heavy rain, high-speed gusts may cause danger to human life and lead to flying debris, fallen trees and power cuts. At 3am on Thursday, a yellow wind warning will be put in place across eastern England
Mr Dale continued: “The major rain area, at the moment, we’ve got East Wales, most of the Midlands arcing up towards… Call it the western side of the M62 towards Manchester.
“That’s where we’ve got the 60 millimetre track, which means over two inches of rain, over two inches, it’s 60 millimetres. So it’s 50 millimetres per, 25 per inch.”
Mr Dale advises people to err on the side of caution due to the unpredictable nature of the storm, with recent weather patterns showing low-pressure systems deepening quickly and causing significant harm.
“And so… It and so all together and some of that obviously will be you know heavy rain into the air as I’ve already mentioned with the wind as well perhaps not as much rain there as what is the areas that I’ve mentioned there’s slightly different in terms of where the where the strongest winds are going to be and where the heaviest rain is going to be.
“The caveat is because the models are not in line… even the latest one is different from one to another. Who gets what, how far Storm Benjamin actually deepens, is part of this.
“It’s better to be safe than sorry… caution is advised. It may go up, it may go down, depending on where you are.
“There is a certain amount of unpredictability about it… We’ve seen things of late—low pressure coming in and deepening very quickly and doing real damage very quickly.”