UK weather: Ice warning in place for Scotland and heavy rain set to hit parts of England

Flooding of some homes and businesses in the south east of England is likely on Wednesday

Snow in Leadhills village in South Lanarkshire. (PA)

Heavy rain is set to batter the south east of England on Wednesday, with warnings of potential flooding.

Ice warnings are also in place in Scotland for Wednesday morning after a band of rain and snow moves north on Tuesday afternoon.

The Met Office have warned that flooding on roads in south east England and Wales will make journey times longer. Flooding of some homes and businesses is also likely and there could be some interruption to power supplies.

Rain will be “heavy and persistent” particularly over the high ground in south Wales and Dartmoor, forecasters have said.

Snow in Leadhills village in South Lanarkshire. A yellow weather warning is in place for ice in Scotland on Wednesday. (PA)

There are also 22 flood alerts in place from the Environment Agency.

In Scotland, rain will fall throughout Tuesday night and then freeze into patchy ice. Travellers have been warned to watch out for untreated roads, pavements and cycle paths which could all become dangerous.

People walk along Tynemouth Longsands Beach in Tynemouth in the North East of England (PA)

It comes as train passengers across Britain deal with the fall out from Monday’s RMT rail worker strikes.

Crowds were left waiting at major train stations despite the walkout ending a 6am on Tuesday.

Photos showed hundreds of passengers packed inside King’s Cross and Paddington, with some journeys delayed due to late running engineering works.

Passengers wait at the barriers at King’s Cross station in London following a strike by members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (PA Wire)

Network Rail have urged people to plan ahead and check before they depart as “industrial action means rail travel will be significantly disrupted throughout December and January”.

Further national strike action by the RMT Union is taking place on 3 and 4 January. On 5 January ASLEF Union will go on strike, followed by RMT workers again on 6 and 7 January.

Runners dressed in festive outifits take part in the Christmas Eve park run at Whitley Bay (PA)

The weather on Thursday is expected to be “unsettled with blustery showers”, with the heaviest rain in the north and west.

After a drier start on Friday, wet and windy weather is likely across Britain and there will be further showers on Saturday, the Met Office have said.