2 weeks Ago By Alex Evans
As many as 11 cities in the UK could experience disruption due to heavy rain and flooding including travel problems and power outages as Storm Bert brings fresh chaos on Sunday. Right now, the Met Office is urging people to prepare for potential flooding and the knock-on effects it could have in severasl major cities. Cities mostly in the south have been issued a yellow weather warning for heavy rain including Portsmouth, Oxford, Bath, Gloucester, Exeter, Bristol, Plymouth and Truro as well as Brighton.
In South Wales, both Swansea and Cardiff are affected. The rest of the UK is not under a rain warning yet but rain is still forecast for many cities including London, Leeds, Newcastle and Manchester. The Met Office said in its forecast: "Heavy rainfall will affect much of the UK this weekend.
Rain is expected to develop during Saturday morning across southwest and southern England, becoming particularly heavy and persistent overnight and into Sunday. Accumulations of 50-75 mm are expected to fall fairly widely during this time. "There is a chance that some places over Dartmoor could see 100-150 mm.
Strong southerly winds will accompany the heavy rain and may locally exacerbate impacts. Rain will become less extensive through Sunday as it erratically clears eastwards." In its advice on the yellow weather warning, the Met Office urges households to be prepared for the potential effects of flooding.
It adds: "Check if your property could be at risk of flooding. If so, consider preparing a flood plan and an emergency flood kit. "Give yourself the best chance of avoiding delays by checking road conditions if driving, or bus and train timetables, amending your travel plans if necessary.
"People cope better with power cuts when they have prepared for them in advance. It’s easy to do; consider gathering torches and batteries, a mobile phone power pack and other essential items." Dozens of red flood warnings have been issued in England, meaning flooding is expected and residents and business owners should “act now”, according to the Environment Agency (EA).
The Met Office said Storm Bert is likely to cause “dangerous coastal conditions” and disruption across southern England and parts of Wales until 9pm on Sunday with a yellow wind warning in place. The Met also issued a yellow weather warning for Sunday across parts of southeast Wales and Herefordshire, which is active until 1pm. The national weather service has warned some communities may be cut off by flooded roads, particularly in the west of England.
Heavy and persistent rain is set to hit the south-west of England into Sunday, with a chance that some places over Dartmoor could see 100-150mm of rainfall, the Met Office said. Strong winds will exacerbate the impact of heavy rain across the country. Travel disruption continues into Sunday and ferry operator DFDS has cancelled services on some routes until Monday, including its Newhaven to Dieppe sailings.
It comes after as much as 64.4mm of rain fell in Capel Curig, north Wales, in 12 hours on Saturday and wind gusts of up to 82mph were recorded in the Welsh village. A man in his 60s died after a tree fell on a car on the A34 near Winchester, Hampshire Police said.
The force was called at 7.47am on Saturday to the southbound carriageway between Kings Worthy and Winnall and found the driver of a black Mercedes E350 dead at the scene. Officers are investigating whether the incident was linked to the storm.
Two other fatal collisions happened while the storm took hold in England..
