People are urged to take care as weather warnings for rain come into effect today.
The Met Office has issued the yellow warning from 10am to 7pm and said flooding is likely in a few places and it could lead to travel disruption.
It said: “A spell of heavy rain will affect Cumbria on Sunday. The rain will set in during the morning and not clear until evening.
“The rain will be heaviest over higher parts of the Lake District where 60mm to 80mm of rain is likely.
“Across the warning area as a whole, 30mm to 40mm is likely to accumulate widely.”
A yellow weather warning for wind, from 6am to 6pm, said: “Southerly to southwesterly winds are expected to increase through Sunday morning, peaking late morning to early afternoon with gusts of 50mph to 60mph, and perhaps as much as 70mph in exposed spots along Irish Sea coastlines, Scottish Islands, and other areas of high ground further inland.
“Rain will accompany strong winds, which will make for very poor weather conditions, especially on roads. Winds will then ease from south west to north east of the warning area through the afternoon and early evening.”
Why should I care about weather warnings?
Weather warnings are issued to let people know what weather is in store for their area and what its impact could be.
The Met Office is the UK’s official weather service and is responsible for issuing weather warnings to the public.
There are three main levels of weather warning:
- Yellow – which asks people to be prepared for disruption
- Amber – which asks people to change plans that could be impacted by the weather and take action to protect themselves and their property
- Red – which is issued for weather that poses a danger to life and asks people to immediately take direct action to keep themselves and others safe from impacts of the weather
Yellow and amber warnings represent a range of impact levels and likelihoods. This means it is important to read each warning to know what level of impact to expect in your local area – and how likely those impacts are to occur. The Met Office began issuing impact-based warnings in 2011 – which means that warnings are issued when the weather may have an impact on people’s day to day lives.
Previous to this, warnings were issued to the public when certain weather thresholds or levels were reached.
Impact-based warnings take multiple factors into account – these include time of day, if it may impact traffic, time of year, if the weather is unusual, if there are any seasonal events taking place and if the area is well equipped to deal with the weather.
Each warning level is designed to help people take steps to minimise the chances of disruption in their lives.
