UK weather: Shoppers to battle wet and windy conditions for Boxing Day sales

26 December 2019, 08:02

More than 35 flood warnings are in place across Britain as the Met Office warns of wet and windy conditions across the country.

A huge deluge of rain will hit the country on Boxing Day, with south west England worst affected.

Some parts of the south west are likely to experience up to 30mm (1.2ins) of rain on Thursday, and coastal areas of the regions are forecast to be battered by 50mph winds.

There is some good news for London shoppers however, with the skies expected to clear by the afternoon as temperatures reach 12C in the South and 5C further north.

The Met Office has warned shoppers that they will need an umbrella if they venture out into the sales, as some UK regions will see as much as 20mm (0.8ins) of rainfall.

The Environment Agency has issued 35 flood warnings and 93 flood alerts, and told people travelling to "check the flood risk on your route, take care on the roads and don't drive through flood water."

Met Office forecaster Alex Burkill said that "pretty much everywhere" will see some level of wet weather.

"For most places there is going to be a lot of cloud and some rain around too," Mr Burkill said.

"The heaviest will be in south-west England and Wales.

"Because of the amount of rain we have seen this month there could also be some localised flooding."

Looking ahead, the rain is expected to persist until Saturday in the north west of England while sunshine should return for the south east in time for the weekend.