A yellow weather warning for rain has come into effect in parts of England, Wales and Northern Ireland, marking a damp start to the Easter bank holiday weekend.
The Met Office alert for a “prolonged spell of rain” will be in place until 9am on Saturday in southwest England and southeastern Wales, after being introduced at 6pm on Friday.
The wet period, during which up to 75mm of rain could fall, may mean difficult driving conditions, with some disruption to travel likely, the Met Office said.
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The forecaster has told residents in those regions that flooding of some homes and businesses is possible and that downpours may also be accompanied by “windy” conditions.
The warning covers Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Plymouth, Somerset and Torbay, along with southeastern Wales.
The warning in Northern Ireland is for County Antrim and County Down, and will last until 3pm on Saturday.
The Met Office suggests people ensure they are checking road conditions near them before travelling, on what is expected to be a busy bank holiday weekend.
Mark Garratt, flood duty manager at the Environment Agency, said: “Heavy rain and showers mean that minor surface water flooding is probable across parts of southwest England on Friday and into Saturday.
“Environment Agency teams will be out on the ground and supporting local authorities in responding to surface water flooding.
“We urge people not to drive through floodwater – it is often deeper than it looks and just 30cm of flowing water is enough to float your car.”
He added people could stay up to date with flood alerts on the government website.
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Met Office meteorologist Honor Criswick said it will be “quite a wet start for many” on Saturday but that the rain is expected to fizzle out over the morning before a “largely dry” Easter Sunday.
“There should be plenty of sunny spells around,” she added. “Good news if you’re heading out for an Easter egg hunt.”
Plenty of bank holiday weekend travel expected
Roughly 10.6 million British adults are planning to take a holiday in the UK over the bank holiday period, according to Tourism authority VisitEngland, while the travel trade organisation Abta said about 2.2 million Britons were heading overseas.
Meanwhile, train passengers have been warned about disruption as Network Rail prepares to begin engineering work.
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It said it would carry out work on more than 300 projects across the UK between Good Friday and Bank Holiday Monday, causing a number of lines to be closed.
The most significant impact will be at London Euston, which will have no services to or from Milton Keynes on Saturday and Easter Sunday, and a reduced timetable on Monday.
You can keep up with the latest rail travel advice by using TfL’s journey planner.
