UK weather: Storm Jorge to lash flood-hit communities with 70mph winds and rain

Deluge likely to bring further misery for people already affected by flooding

Storm Jorge is expected to unleash more heavy rain on the UK’s already flood-hit communities and bring strong winds over the weekend.

The Met Office has issued warnings for 70mph winds and rainfall of up to 80mm as the storm arrives on Friday.

The warnings for rain are in place from Friday morning until Saturday morning in Northern Ireland, Wales, northwest England and southwest England.

Warnings for wind are then in place from midday Saturday until midday Sunday across most of England, Northern Ireland and Wales, as well as southwest Scotland.

The deluge will likely bring more misery for residents in areas already affected by flooding.

Residents in Worcestershire and Shropshire had to be evacuated from their homes after flood defences buckled under the pressure of water.

A severe flood warning, indicating danger to life, currently covers the River Severn at the Wharfage, in Ironbridge, after flood barriers were compromised.

People living in the Yorkshire town of Snaith were also told to leave their homes after the River Aire burst its banks following three weeks of heavy rain.

A car partially submerged in floods in Shrewsbury, Shropshire (Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty) (Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images)

There were also 82 other flood warnings, indicating flooding is expected, and 125 flood alerts in place across England, as well as one flood warning and one alert in Wales.

Paul Gundersen, the Met Office’s chief forecaster, said: “On Friday, a band of rain associated with Storm Jorge will move across the UK; we have issued rain warnings for parts of Wales and northern England, where rain will be heaviest and we could see 60-80mm possible over the highest ground.

“Southwesterly winds will strengthen through Saturday morning and it’ll turn widely windy except for northern Scotland, with wind warnings in place for Northern Ireland, Wales, southern Scotland and much of England.

“Where warnings are in place, gusts of 50-60mph are likely quite widely with 65-70mph possible in coastal areas, however, the strongest and most damaging winds are expected across the Republic of Ireland.”

Dan Harris, deputy chief forecaster, added: “As Storm Jorge begins to weaken and clear later on Saturday we’ll see a trend back to slightly colder conditions, with some snow over hills and mountains in the north of the UK and a mixture of rain and hail showers in the south.

“Away from much of Scotland it’ll remain blustery on Sunday, although not quite as windy as Saturday.

“The weather looks likely to remain rather cold and showery into next week and there’s a chance of further wet and windy weather around the middle of the week, although confidence in details are low at this stage.”

Storm Jorge has been named by the Spanish Meteorological Service, which is part of the southwest Europe storm naming group.

It is convention for all other national meteorological services to then use that name when referring to the low pressure.

The next UK storm will be named Storm Ellen.