UK weather: Torrential rain, is there a risk of flooding, is this the wettest February ever?

With the prospect of a possible snow bomb in the UK in late February or early March, it doesn't look like spring is on its way anytime soon. So before you start thinking about investing in some clothes for spring/summer, you better hang on to your winter coats and jumpers for the time being. 

According to Jonathan Vautrey, a Met Office meteorologist, the reason behind southern districts bearing the brunt of the rainfall is because it is due to a low area of pressure that has been “pushing its way to the south west of the UK.” He goes on to say that this “additional rainfall does bring potential for some disruption in some places and there are weather warnings in place for southern districts.”

Jonathan also commented on “some very strong winds” and the “rain will be particularly persistent for south eastern areas of England right throughout the night.” Some patchy frost is also  possible across areas of Scotland.

The weather forecast from the Met Office for Sunday 25 February is that fog and frost will clear to “leave areas with sunny spells and a few showers. However, wet and windy weather in the southwest will gradually spread to other southern areas. Feeling cold underneath the rain, though pleasant in any sunshine.”

Is there a risk of flooding?

The yellow rain warning for rain had been issued from 3pm on Sunday until 9am on Monday. There is another yellow warning for parts of the southwest, including Exter and Truro, this is from 6am on Sunday until 6pm the same day.

Is this the wettest February ever?

The Met Office tweeted two weeks ago “It has been a wet start to February 2024 for many of us, and then asked their followers to guess which year currently holds the title of having the wettest February on record across the UK? The choices were 1848, 1990, 2002, and 2020. The correct answer was 2020 when the UK saw an average of 213.7mm of rain in the month of February.