UK weather: Flood warnings in place as rain sweeps across UK and temperatures drop

Soggy start to week will continue into Tuesday

The majority of the UK will be wet and chilly today as a band of rain pushes in from the northwest and slowly makes its way across the country, according to Met Office forecasters.  

Flood warnings were issued by the Environment Agency in parts of the Cotswolds, Oxford and Bedfordshire on Sunday evening, in preparation for the downpour, as three major rivers’ levels (Evenlode, Glyme and Ray) were said to be getting higher. 

Parts of Scotland and northwest England, particularly Manchester, will experience heavy rainfall throughout the morning and for most of the day. Southern England, including London, will not see rain until later on, around 3pm. 

Temperatures in the south, however, are set to be much colder. In the capital, as well as surrounding regions, Monday morning kicked off with lows of 6C. This is compared to warmer temperatures in the north, including 9C in Manchester and 10C in Belfast. All regions will however see slight changes in temperature throughout the day. 

The cold and soggy start to the week comes after a stark mix of warm, wet and windy displays of weather across the UK over the weekend. On Sunday alone, there were highs of 16.3C in Cardiff, in Wales, compared to lows of 0.9C in Shap, in Cumbria. 

By Monday evening, though, conditions will be cloudy and damp in the south and east of England with some light rain and drizzle. 

Elsewhere there will be further spells of showery rain and drizzle that will make their way into the west, especially in Wales. In between there should be clearer and drier spells, mainly in central areas.

The Met Office, via its Twitter page, advised having “coats and umbrellas at the ready” on the back of today’s forecasts – and it seems the rain will continue to pour throughout much of Tuesday as well. 

On Tuesday, it will be generally cloudy and wet with outbreaks of rain at times, although downpours are expected to be much lighter than today.