Storm Babet is just hours away from striking Britain with an avalanche of rain expected to wreak havoc across the country.
The storm, which is predicted to ramp up from tonight, is the reason behind the Met Office’s four-day weather warning.
It begins by covering the north west and east of England, along with the eastern coast from tomorrow, before nearly all of Scotland is added for the remaining two days.
Power outages are expected, and disruption to public transport as increasingly wet and windy weather is set to cause flooding in many areas across the country.
One forecaster has pinpointed which areas are set to be worse affected with the exact impacts predicted.
Jim Dale, a senior meteorologist for British Weather Services, told Express.co.uk: “This is much more a rain event than a wind one, beyond any majorly gusts.
“For me, western parts of the UK will be worst hit, in line first for 25-50mm of rain from Wednesday to Thursday. But Grampians, Angus & Lothian are the main target areas from Thursday to Friday with 100-200mm of rain expected.
“It may spill over into the central belt.”
The Met Office has highlighted the storm’s track – which will move from the west tonight.
Deputy chief meteorologist, Steven Keates said: “Storm Babet will bring impactful rain to many parts of the UK, but especially parts of eastern Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England later this week.
Eastern coasts on alert
“Heavy and persistent rain will fall onto already saturated ground bringing a risk of flooding.
“As well as heavy rain, Storm Babet will bring some very strong winds and large waves near some eastern coasts too. Gusts in excess of 60mph are possible in eastern and northern Scotland from Thursday. It is likely Met Office warnings will be updated through the week.”
Interactive maps show how this weather system almost splits – with Northern Ireland, north western Scotland and a large swathe of the eastern English coast getting a battering by Friday, which is when the weather warnings expire.
Post-storm weather
At the moment, weather warnings do not spill into the weekend, but that could change. The Met Office forecast for this weekend says: “This weekend is likely to remain generally unsettled with further rain, perhaps heavy at times.
“But this possibly becomes more confined to some western and southern areas, as conditions turn brighter and more showery from the northeast. Also remaining windy, especially in the northeast, where gales are possible at first.”
Looking into next week the UK will be peppered with unsettled conditions, but temperatures on the whole are expected to remain higher than average for the time of year.
