Severe weather warning issued for Thursday

The yellow warning will be in place from the early hours of Thursday, December 17th, to 6pm that day as an area of rain is expected to move northeastwards across northern England, clearing east through the afternoon.

“Some heavy and persistent rain is likely, primarily over the high ground of Cumbria, Lancashire and Yorkshire, and there is a very low likelihood this may lead to renewed disruption from flooding in some recently affected areas,” said a spokesman this morning.

“Please be aware of the potential for further localised disruption.”

Very mild and moist air will be drawn up from subtropical latitudes across the UK on Thursday and will be associated with strong winds, likely to result in some heavy rain, in particular the high ground of Cumbria, Lancashire and Yorkshire.

“Rainfall totals of 20-30 mm are likely over the high ground with perhaps 50-60 mm at the most exposed sites,” added the spokesman. “This would usually not be of concern but, following recent severe flooding, these areas are more responsive to relatively small amounts of rain. There is therefore a very low likelihood of medium impacts from renewed flooding in some of these areas.”

This alert is likely to be updated in the coming days as recovery work proceeds and new information comes in.