Weather warning: threat to life as rains deluge UK

The Met Office yesterday issued an amber warning – meaning there is a “potential threat to life” as heavy rainfall approached the UK.

The alert covered north and north-west England, mid-Wales, south Wales, Cornwall and Devon. Mid-Wales is likely to be worst hit, with as much as 3.5 inches of rain expected to fall in 16 hours, equivalent to three weeks of average March rain.

The downpour began last night and is expected to continue well into this morning.

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An amber warning indicates a risk of power cuts, rapidly-moving floods and damage to buildings. A less-severe yellow warning was last night in place for parts of England including the cities of Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield and Huddersfield, says Sky News.

The Met office forecaster Greg Dewhurst said: “The ground is already saturated and with all the rainfall we have had over recent weeks it is likely to lead to further flooding in places.”

Wales has been badly hit by floods already this year and both the rivers Severn and Wye have their upper reaches in the area where the worst of last night’s rain was expected. Boris Johnson visited flood-hit parts of Worcester, on the river Severn, last weekend.