Brits brace for flooding after Storm Agnes arrives with heavy winds and downpours - but warm weather is on the way
29 September 2023, 10:04
Storm Agnes swept over the UK on Thursday, drenching many with heavy downpours and battering parts of the country with strong winds - and the difficult conditions are set to continue on Friday.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Flood warnings are in place for parts of England, Scotland and Wales on Friday evening.
Coastal and tidal flooding is possible ion the River Wye estuary in Gloucestershire on Saturday, as well as some areas of the north-west and south-west coasts of England over the weekend, and for the north-east coast of England on Saturday.
Roads and some houses could be flooded, as well as other travel disruption.
But much of the rest of the country will have sunny weather on Friday, forecasters believe.
The Met Office said: “Early morning rain soon clearing southeast. A bright and breezy day, with plenty of sunny spells for most.
"A scattering of showers in the north and west, these most frequent across Scotland, where it will also be windy."
Storm Agnes brought heavy winds and rain to parts of the UK and Ireland, causing travel chaos for some.
A woman had to be rescued from her car after getting stranded. The car was submerged in a river in County Londonderry in Northern Ireland, as Agnes brought 80mph winds, heavy rain and flooding to the island.
Firefighters found the car and hauled the woman out. She was taken to hospital to be treated for hypothermia and shock.Elsewhere, a roof was torn off a house in County Cork by the sheer force of the winds.
An easyJet plane was unable to land in Belfast on Wednesday afternoon because of "winds gusting outside the limits of the aircraft".
After two weeks of unsettled weather at the end of September, October is expected to be especially warm by the usual weather standards in the south of England.
“We are anticipating a warmer than average end to September, which will bleed into October," Met Office meteorologist Grahame Madge said.
"We’re looking at temperatures of six or seven degrees above average," he added.
“There won’t be a heatwave but a warmer than average spell is certainly on the cards, with the warmest temperatures likely to be in Southampton, Hampshire, East Anglia and London, which will see the low 20s next week."
It could reach as high as 23C on Tuesday, the forecaster has said.
Temperatures will then hover around or above 20C for the rest of the week.It is unlikely to reach as high as it did in Kent in October 2011, however, where it peaked at 29.9C.
