‘Threat-to-life’ weather warning issued as downpours continue

LONDON: A threat-to-life warning has been issued, as parts of Britain brace for two more days of heavy downpours, ahead of some snowfall and the leftovers of a hurricane later this week.

On Monday, emergency services were searching for a person apparently swept away by the River Severn, after a yellow weather warning was issued for parts of Wales and the Midlands.Gloucestershire Police were called at around 11:25am on Monday, after a member of the public was concerned a person had been swept away by the Severn Bore wave.

A spokesman said: “A search involving officers, Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service, the National Police Air Service and the Severn Area Rescue Association began in the Castlemeads area. Emergency services remain at the scene.”

As of Monday afternoon, there were 56 flood warnings in place across England and Wales, and a further 153 flood alerts. On Tuesday, the yellow weather warning will expand to include the majority of the south of England, South Wales, the Midlands and parts of East Anglia, as heavy showers bring a “small chance of fast-flowing or deep floodwater causing danger to life”, according to the Met Office.

As the week continues, the remnants of ex-tropical storm Lorenzo could bring more autumnal conditions. Currently classed as Hurricane Lorenzo, the storm was expected to hit the Portuguese Azores islands as a Category 2 on Monday, before possibly heading towards the UK at the end of the week. Met Office meteorologist Nicola Maxey said: “There are big discrepancies in the way [Lorenzo] could travel over the Atlantic. It’s too early to tell which path it’s going to take, but it won’t be a hurricane by the time it gets here.

“As weather fronts pass over the Atlantic they slow down and potentially take on water, sometimes they’re nothing but a ball of energy by the time they reach us.”Cooler air also plays a part in this week’s forecast, and snow is expected to fall in some parts of Scotland.

Maxey added: “There is some snow in the forecast for Wednesday. Cold air will be coming in across the UK on Wednesday and we could see a light dusting of snow across the mountains in Scotland, but that’s not too unusual for the time of year.

“Through the rest of October, things are looking very changeable for the first week and that looks likely to continue through the second and third week. There doesn’t seem to be anything that would indicate anything unusual.”