Dangerous Storm Babet is now lashing the UK with a wall of water crashing down on parts of Scotland that could bring a month’s worth of rain in just 48 hours.
Red weather warnings have been issued by the Met Office meaning there is a “danger to life from fast-flowing or deep floodwater” in Aberdeenshire and Angus in eastern Scotland, with extensive road closures expected.
The threat level is the highest since Storm Dennis roared over the UK in 2020. A high pressure system to the north of the Britain is effectively stopping Babet in her tracks meaning the weather system is likely to draw in exceptional amounts of moisture from the North Sea.
Experts say the conditions will bring in a “conveyor belt” of rain for Scotland and eastern England over the next 48 hours.
Jim Dale, founder and the Senior Meteorological Consultant at British Weather Services, told Express.co.uk: “It’s a proper autumn storm, the last storm we had that had red warnings was Storm Dennis back in 2020.
“Red warnings are exceptional, it means there is a distinct threat to life. In other words you are going to see rivers overflow and regionalised flooding anyway in terms of accumulation on the roads.
“The millimetre situation in Scotland in those red areas, by the end of Saturday you’re likely to be seeing more than a month’s worth of rain in a 48-hour period, hence the reason for red warnings. Welcome to autumn.”
Mr Dale said in the past few hours Storm Babet’s “line of attack” had reached Scotland and to the areas under red warnings.
He added: “All that rain is pushing up and essentially coming up against a barrier which is the high pressure over Scandinavia, so it’s not going to go very far very quickly.
“Hence the reason why those easterly winds pushing into Scotland, the Grampian regions, Montrose, Forfar, Aberdeenshire into Angus, will be like a conveyor belt bringing rain in from the North Sea.
“Babet is now going to stay for the next 24, 36 maybe 48 hours pulling in the rain off the North Sea.”
Mr Dale revealed Babet had a lot of energy after starting its life over the Canary Islands around 11 days ago where there had been record temperatures.
He continued: “Rain is the reason red, but the wind is going to be a problem in terms of 50-60mph gusts particularly in eastern Scotland and North East England.
“The rain is a different matter, that is accumulating on wet weather we had a week or so ago, so water tables are already high in the areas Babet is hitting now.”
According to the weather expert people living in areas without warnings should still be mindful Babet could produce hazardous conditions in terms of heavy rain, gusty winds or thundery showers.
He added: “Tomorrow, it will continue in Scotland, as well as on the eastern side of England, including London, Lincolnshire, the North East with heavy rain laying down 20-30mm quite comfortably.
“It’s more of a universal event, and not just that part of Scotland, and it’s an unfolding event.”
In Scotland Angus Council said schools will close at lunchtime on Thursday and remain shut on Friday to “ensure the safety of children, young people, parents, and school staff”.
Mass train cancellations have been imposed by ScotRail, expected to last from Thursday until Saturday. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has three flood warnings in place as of 6am, along with 14 flood alerts.
