More than 100 flood warnings as rain continues across Britain

Parts of the UK which have already been saturated by heavy rainfall and flooding are braced as forecasters warn of further wet weather.

The Environment Agency (EA) said there were 106 flood warnings in place for England on Thursday morning, including six severe warnings indicating lives were in danger in communities near the Welsh border.

Persistent rain has seen the Met Office raise yellow weather warnings across parts of southern Scotland and Strathclyde, northwestern England and Wales as recovery efforts continue following Storm Dennis.

Rain fell heavily across northern and western parts of Britain overnight, Met Office forecaster Mark Wilson said, adding it was likely to continue until about 3pm.

The village of Capel Curig in north Wales received 54 mm of rain in 24 hours, compared to an average of 97 mm of rain for the whole of February.

Cumbria’s Shap, which recorded 120 mm across February 2019, saw 52 mm fall before day broke on Thursday.

But some relief reprieve was on the way later in the day, Mr Wilson said.

“The rain will clear through the west in the afternoon then through the southeast later,” he said.

People can look forward to “sunshine and showers” later in the day, the forecaster added.

More weather warnings are likely on Friday with heavy rain expected across western Scotland, Yorkshire and parts of Cumbria.

Gusty winds are also expected to strengthen at the end of the working week.

Mr Wilson urged people to be mindful of warnings as they go about their day.

“There could be some pretty tricky conditions on the roads, make sure you give yourself a bit more time with travel because there’s some fairly heavy rain around,” he said.

The EA reported England has already received 141% of its average February rainfall so far this month courtesy of Dennis, adding that river levels in the Colne, Ribble, Calder, Aire, Trent, Severn, Wye, Lugg, and Derwent all set new records in recent days.

Meanwhile, fundraising efforts have continued for those affected by the floods, with multiple communities in Wales starting collections.

On Wednesday, Good Omens actor Michael Sheen launched a campaign to raise money for affected communities in Wales, raising half of its £10,000 goal within the first five hours.