Could it be a wet Christmas? Flood warnings issued ahead of weekend

The Environment Agency has issued flood warnings for parts of the country

12:01 21 December 2012

PUBLISHED 15:09 20 December 2012 UPDATED 21 December 2012

Well, we may not be in for a white Christmas this year. The Environment Agency has issued more flood warnings for parts of the UK, as the next band of rain is expected to fall from Friday. Forecasters are expecting around 45mm of rain (almost 2inches) to fall within 24hours.

Despite the recent icy weather, forecasters have predicted that the lead up to Christmas will be wet. Hundreds of flood alerts are in place across the country, with predictions stating the weather could generally stay unsettled until Boxing Day.

Andy Ratcliffe, from the MeteoGroup, said: “Through tomorrow the heavy pulse of rain will push north eastwards, and it will be patchy across much of England and Wales.”

He added: “It is a really unsettled picture, and over the next few days there will continue to be a pretty wide risk of flooding.”

Mr. Ratcliffe had previously said there would be a “band of rain” that “will move in” and “stay throughout the weekend and into next week”.

Reports say people in Hampshire were expected to evacuate their homes because of flooding. And flood warnings have been put in place in Cambridge due to river levels being high.

With many Brits making their way to see family and friends over the Christmas period, the weather is expected to cause travel problems. Many people finishing work for Christmas on Friday are thought to be travelling to their loved ones over the weekend.

There are fears for the safety of motorists during the Christmas period however, with many cars reportedly breaking down on Thursday in connection with the wet weather. Warnings have been issued to drivers with regards to flooding.

Rail travel has also been affected by the persistent rain, with some routes being cancelled because of floods. It is thought that the service between Crewe and Chester was cancelled among others.

Places on flood alert on Thursday were mainly those in southern areas; including south-east Anglia, south-west England and south-east Wales. The Midlands were also thought to have been issued flood warnings. This comes as wet weather swept across the country.
 
The airport at Land’s End has been closed until after Christmas and Boxing Day due to severe weather conditions. This means that those wishing to travel to and from the Isles of Scilly will find it much more difficult to do so.

This news comes after flooding caused many problems in November, where home owners were forced to leave their homes because of flooding.