After a fine and bright start to Saturday for most of the UK, increasing cloud followed by rain will move into northwestern areas through the morning. By lunchtime heavy and persistent rain will be established over west Scotland, Northern Ireland and northwest England. It will also be windy, with gusts of 60-70 mph possible along coastal areas in the west of Scotland.

Numerous severe weather warnings have been issued for rain as it will persist through the weekend and into the start of next week. Accumulations in Cumbria are particularly notable, with potentially over 200mm accumulating over 48 hours. More widely, totals of 40-70mm are likely, with over 100mm on higher ground of western Britain and up to 50mm possible over higher ground in Northern Ireland.

Met Office Chief Meteorologist, Rebekah Hicks said: "The northwest of the UK is set for a very wet weekend, with persistent and heavy rain accompanied by strong winds. Rain will move in through Saturday morning and become established and slow-moving across central and northwest parts of the UK through the weekend.

"We have issued numerous severe weather warnings for rain, and it is possible that these could be upgraded so I'd advise people to keep an eye on the forecast and for Met Office weather warnings."

Further afield, the weekend weather will be notably different. The southern half of the UK will be dry and bright, with much lighter winds too. With cloudless skies there could be patches of frost, mist and fog in the south of England to start the day on Saturday. While Sunday will remain dry for many through the day, there will be more cloud which will be followed by the band of rain slowly moving southeastward through Sunday night and Monday.

Heavy rain brings risk of flooding

Jonathan Day, Flood Duty Manager at the Environment Agency, said: "Significant surface water flooding impacts are possible in parts of the North of England on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. There are also possible significant river flooding impacts in parts of the North of England on Sunday and Monday,with minor flooding impacts possible more widely across northern England over the weekend.

"Environment Agency teams are out on the ground, taking action to reduce the impact of flooding and support those communities affected. We urge people not to drive though flood water - it is often deeper than it looks and just 30cm of flowing water is enough to float your car.

"People should search 'check my flood risk', get free flood warnings, and keep up to date with the latest situation at @EnvAgency on X."‎

Further ahead

The rain will cling on across the far southeast for a time on Tuesday, but for most other areas it will be a more settled day with dry and brighter weather. Further wet and windy weather will move in on Wednesday as another area of low pressure approaches from the Atlantic.

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