Heavy rain and blustery winds are forecast to sweep across England and Wales on Tuesday, October 13, affecting around 30 counties, according to Met Office rainfall maps. The wet weather is expected to travel from west to east during the morning, hitting areas from Cornwall and Devon through Wales, the Midlands and the North West before reaching London and the South East.
The Met Office said: "Heavy rain moves across England and Wales during the morning with blustery winds, but turning drier and brighter in the afternoon. Heavy showers move into the north later."
Rainfall maps show progression
At 5am, the maps show yellow and orange patches across parts of western Scotland, including around Glasgow, with rainfall rates of between 4mm and 16mm an hour in places. By around 7am, a narrow band of heavy rain can be seen stretching from the South West, through Wales and towards north-west England, passing close to Cardiff and heading towards areas around Manchester.
The band continues moving east over the following hour, while the weather begins to improve behind it. By 8am, much of the South West, including areas around Plymouth, starts to escape the worst of the rain.
Rain reaches London by late morning
Over the next couple of hours, the wet weather crosses central England, with pockets of heavier rain mixed in with lighter downpours. Further north, Scotland also faces a wet morning, with the maps showing another area of heavy rain and some stronger bursts moving towards the east coast.
By late morning, the main band reaches London and the South East, where the Met Office says the rain could be "locally heavy". The maps use different colours to show the expected rainfall rates. Dark blue represents less than 0.5mm an hour, while lighter blue shows up to 1mm an hour. Green indicates between 2mm and 4mm, yellow between 4mm and 8mm, and orange between 8mm and 16mm an hour.
Clearer conditions expected later
The rain is expected to move through fairly quickly, with much of Wales and western England already clearer by late morning. London and the South East should then see the rain clear by mid-afternoon, with drier and brighter weather spreading eastwards across England and Wales.
Blustery winds are expected while the rain passes through, before attention turns north later in the day, where the Met Office is forecasting heavy showers. Despite the heavy bursts, the rain band is relatively narrow, meaning some areas could see conditions change quickly as it passes through.
Tuesday will therefore be a day of two halves for many, with a wet and blustery morning giving way to brighter conditions later on. Looking ahead for Wednesday until Friday, the Met Office weather forecast says: "A band of heavy rain slowly moves south over the next few days, and rather windy in the north. Gradually turning colder and brighter from Friday with lighter winds. Mild."
Full list of counties facing rain on Tuesday: Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Bristol, Wiltshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Shropshire, West Midlands, Staffordshire, Cheshire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Warwickshire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey, Greater London, Hertfordshire, Essex, Kent.
