Brits have been issued a warning ahead of a shift in weather conditions which could see flooding across the UK – sparking concerns of an Easter washout.
Forecasters have stressed that heavy rain could trigger travel disruption and powercuts in western Britain at the start of this week. According to the Met Office, disastrous flooding is expected to hit some areas between Tuesday and Wednesday.
In total, 37 areas have been plunged under a yellow weather warning. The alert is set from 12pm in the afternoon on Tuesday, until midday on Wednesday.
The Met Office said in a statement: “A spell of heavy and persistent rain is expected to move north across western Britain during Tuesday into early Wednesday.
“Whilst there is some uncertainty in where the heaviest rain will fall, 20-40 mm of rain is expected fairly widely.
“A few places may see 50-75 mm of rain during this period: gradually building up in the west following rain on Monday, whilst in parts of the east, falling in shorter periods where heavy showers and thunderstorms become slow-moving.”
Met Office spokesman Craig Snell said from Tuesday, there will be “plenty of wet weather”, particularly in England and Wales. Towards the end of the week and into the long Easter weekend, he said it would become a “changeable picture”.
Speaking about the shift in weather conditions, he said: “Some places will see rain, others some sunshine, depending on where you are in the UK on Thursday and Friday one day will be wetter than the other.
“Not cold by any means, but compared to the first week of the Easter holidays, the second week does look like a bit more of a mixed bag across the UK.”
Snow is likely across mountaintops, chiefly in Scotland, but it may drift into the northern Pennines. “We’re talking about the tops of the mountains, at lower levels we’re not going to see anything white falling from the sky,” Mr Snell said.
“We’re still climbing our way through spring, to see snow across the mountains of Scotland and England in April is not unusual.”
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