The Met Office has issued a new 12-hour yellow warning for heavy rain covering parts of Greater Manchester, as Storm Boelo is set to bring surface water flooding with up to 60mm of rain falling in just six hours.
The warning will come into force at 11am and remain in place until 11pm on Saturday. It also covers Cumbria, much of Wales and the south coast of England. The Met Office warned that flooding could lengthen journey times, affect bus and train services, and cause power cuts.
Storm Boelo follows Storm Austen
Storm Boelo is the second named storm of the week, arriving just hours after Storm Austen caused disruption in the south west. The Met Office said: "Heavy rain in association with Storm Boelo is expected to lead to surface water flooding in places. 25 to 30mm is expected widely across the warning area during this time, with a few places such as upland areas seeing 50 to 60mm, and some of this perhaps falling within six hours."
The Met Office added: "Rain will ease for a time through the evening, but this will be followed by another intense band of heavy rain following in from the west, before the whole system clears away eastward to bring a clear night with a few scattered showers following on."
Amber wind warning and travel disruption
An amber warning for strong winds will come into force from 9pm on Saturday until 9pm on Sunday, covering parts of Lancashire and Cumbria, much of Scotland and parts of northern England. The Met Office said there is a danger to life due to flying debris and large waves in coastal areas where wind gusts are expected to hit 80mph. Power cuts and impacts on services such as mobile phone coverage are also possible.
Widespread travel disruption is expected for ferries and trains. TransPennine Express has warned against all but essential train journeys on Saturday and Sunday, while Avanti West Coast strongly advised users not to travel north of Preston on Sunday.
Storm Austen aftermath
Storm Austen hit the south on Friday, leaving more than 3,700 homes in the south west without electricity on Saturday morning, according to the National Grid map. Engineers restored power to more than 60,000 homes on Friday due to the storm.
Met Office meteorologist Alex Burkill said: "There's more stormy weather to come as we go through this weekend, especially across northern parts – that's where we're going to see the strongest winds. Storm Boelo is arriving. It's going to bring widespread rain and some very strong winds indeed, and it's quick on the tails of Storm Austen which is now clearing away towards the east."
He added: "All of us will see some fairly persistent rain particularly as we go through the afternoon. In the west it's going to be fairly heavy, some high totals which could lead to a bit of flooding in places, and nonetheless there will be some significant spray on the roads. It's the winds that were perhaps most concerned about, they're really going to whip up some strong gusty winds across Northern Ireland, northern parts of England and also Scotland through the day – strengthening as we head towards the evening."
The yellow rain warning covers 57 areas, including Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, and parts of Wales and southern England.
