The Met Office has warned that 66 counties in England and Wales face heavy rain on Saturday, with showers expected to turn thundery in southern and central areas.
Showers to arrive early Saturday
Forecasters at the national weather agency have already been forced to issue several thunderstorm warnings in England and Wales this week - and while they have all expired, more downpours look to be coming.
Once again it will be England and Wales that face the wet conditions on Saturday, with Scotland and Northern Ireland expected to stay relatively dry in comparison. The showers in southern and central areas could turn thundery, forecasters warn.
In this evening’s Met Office video forecast, meteorologist Annie Shuttleworth explained that showers are expected to arrive in south-western areas in the early hours, before moving northwards.
Wet and windy start to bank holiday weekend
“It is to the south and west that the next area of low pressure will start to arrive, bringing some very wet weather indeed through Saturday morning,” she said.
“The bank holiday weekend will get off to a bit of a wet and, for some of us, windy start. The winds will start to pick up across the south coast and they will stay relatively strong throughout much of Saturday - particularly across more south-western areas.”
Rain will then push into central areas while “quite heavy and thundery”, Ms Shuttleworth said. She went on: “But for northern areas - much of Scotland - it’s going to be quite a dry day, plenty of bright weather as well.
“That northerly wind not making it feel all too warm across the north coast, but more sheltered areas [will see] temperatures climbing towards 20-21C.”
Counties affected across England and Wales
The Met Office maps show 66 counties face heavy rain at some point on Saturday. They are all in England and Wales.
In England, the affected counties include Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Bristol, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, City of London, Cornwall, Derbyshire, Devon, Dorset, Durham, East Riding of Yorkshire, East Sussex, Essex, Gloucestershire, Greater London, Greater Manchester, Hampshire, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Merseyside, North Yorkshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Rutland, Shropshire, Somerset, South Yorkshire, Staffordshire, Surrey, Tyne and Wear, Warwickshire, West Midlands, West Sussex, West Yorkshire, Wiltshire and Worcestershire.
In Wales, the affected counties include Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend, Caerphilly, Cardiff, Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Gwynedd, Isle of Anglesey, Merthyr Tydfil, Monmouthshire, Neath Port Talbot, Newport, Pembrokeshire, Powys, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Swansea, Torfaen, Vale of Glamorgan and Wrexham.
BBC forecast similar
BBC Weather’s forecast paints a similar picture, with rain expected in England and Wales while Scotland should remain mostly dry.
It states: “Tomorrow, spells of showery rain followed by showers across England and Wales. Some rain also reaching Northern Ireland and southern Scotland. Mostly dry in northern Scotland.”
