UK weather forecast: Flood warnings issued with more rain on way before temperatures climb to 17C

Warmer and drier conditions ahead after downpours ease up

Torrential rain and high river levels have left much of England and Wales at risk of flooding on Monday, experts have warned.

The Environment Agency has put 18 flood warnings and 27 lower-risk flood alerts in force, with the majority in Yorkshire and the Midlands. Natural Resources Wales have one flood warning and four flood alerts in place.

The Met Office said more showers are expected to hit western parts of the country today following the weekend’s heavy downpours, which saw a month’s worth of rainfall in some areas.

However, conditions are expected to get warmer and drier over the next few days as the rain finally eases up.

And forecasters are predicting a return to February’s mild and pleasant weather, with temperatures set to climb as high as 17C by the end of the week.

The Environment Agency said its teams were still out operating flood defences on Monday, having installed a series of temporary barriers to keep communities safe.

Six flood warnings are in place along the River Ouse, including two in York, with a further five warnings on the River Swale and one on the River Ure.

The River Severn had six flood warnings in force along its course, while there were further warnings were issued along the River Dee at Farndon and Keswick in Cumbria.

Fire engines had to pump flood water away to protect homes in Sowerby Bridge and Todmorden in West Yorkshire at the weekend.

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service also tweeted pictures of firefighters rescuing people trapped in vehicles in rising floods.

Meteorologist John West said the current high river levels were due the weekend’s rain, with parts of Wales having half a month’s rain in the space of a day.

Mr West said on Monday: “The wettest areas over the next few hours are the south-west, Scotland and west Wales. We are probably going to see an additional 10mm over the hills of west Wales.”

The meteorologist said temperatures could rise toward the mid-teens on Tuesday before climbing even higher by the end of the week.

He added: “There’s certainly going to be a bit of an improvement. We should probably get up to about 11 degrees as a max somewhere in the south-east (on Monday), that jumps up by Tuesday with highs of 14 in the south-east.

“We will probably hang on to those temperatures in the mid-teens, we could see 16 or 17 as we go through the back end of the week.”