A new Amber Weather Warning for heavy rain has been issued on New Year's Day.
This unusual warning was issued by the Japan Meteorological Agency from 8pm on New Year's Eve to 9am on Wednesday.
Forecasters said “persistent and at times heavy rain” will continue overnight, before clearing southwards into the morning of New Year's Day.
The Amber Alert covers north-west and central England, including Derbyshire, Blackburn, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and parts of north, south and west Yorkshire.
According to the Japan Meteorological Agency's forecast, “40 to 50 mm of rain is expected over a fairly wide area, with 50 to 100 mm expected to fall in west-facing hills.''
“More than 100mm could be visible in some places.”
This brings the catalog of Met Office warnings in place over the new year period, including a New Year's Eve yellow warning for rain in Wales and north-west England, wind in north-east England, Cumbria and southern Scotland and snow in other areas. will continue to increase. Scotland.
The Amber Alert warns that flooding is “likely” to homes and businesses across central Scotland, including Inverness, with 10 flood alerts and 20 flood warnings in place on Monday.
The Japan Meteorological Agency said there was “a good chance” that communities would be cut off due to flooding of roads, power outages and other service outages.
In response to the risk, the Scottish Government convened a meeting of its emergency response unit.
Up to 140mm of rain is expected to fall in the west of Scotland today and tomorrow, with snow also expected in most other parts of Scotland.
Winds of up to 90mph and heavy showers are expected to continue until mid-afternoon across northern England, the Midlands and Wales.
Weather officials have warned that travel disruptions and other risks could continue in these areas until 11 p.m.
The storm will weaken as it moves south, with rain expected to taper off in the southwest and southeast by evening.
Forecasters are predicting a few hours of respite overnight before a bigger storm hits the UK on New Year's Day (Wednesday).
A yellow weather warning was also issued for “very strong winds” across England from 9am until 6am the following day.
“Wind gusts of 65 to 75 mph may occur near the coast and hills, especially in the south and west, and gusts of 50 to 60 mph may occur over a significant area inland,” the weather service said. I warned you.
Heavy rain is expected to hit western regions in the morning and continue throughout the day, leaving northern England and southern Scotland drenched in the late afternoon.
Heavy rainfall is expected to trigger a yellow alert for Wales.
Forecasters said flooding of homes and businesses was “likely” in some areas.
Power outages, flooding of roads and disruption to public transport are also possible, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
Chief forecaster Andy Page said: “The UK weather forecast is very complex, with snow, strong winds and heavy rain expected in some parts of the UK.”
“At least one weather warning will be in place for most of the UK next week.
“Such diverse and complex weather conditions may result in changing and possibly escalating warning patterns in some areas.
“There will be a lot of celebration and movement over the next few days, so we urge everyone to keep checking the weather forecast to update your plans.”
Get in touch with our news team by emailing webnews@metro.co.uk.
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