Dozens of flood warnings issued in UK as more downpours expected

Dozens of flood warnings are in place, along with more than 250 alerts, as relentless rain continues to lash the UK.

The Environment Agency (EA) has issued 78 warnings for England, meaning flooding is expected, mainly concentrated in the South West and Midlands.

A further 249 flood alerts are in force, meaning flooding is possible, stretching from North Yorkshire to Cornwall, and from the Welsh borders to Norfolk.

Natural Resources Wales has another 11 flood alerts in place across the border. Scotland has one flood warning and five flood alerts.

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Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service also warned that levels in the River Dene had "risen to a state where flooding is imminent".

The EA usually issues flood warnings 30 minutes to two hours before flooding, according to its website.

It issues them when flooding is expected from rivers, from heavy rains that could cause flash floods, and from high tides and surges coupled with strong winds at sea.

More wet weather is predicted for large parts of the country on Saturday, including blustery showers in the South West and heavy showers in South Wales.

England flood alerts
Scotland flood alerts
Wales flood alerts
NI flood alerts

Sunday offers a more mixed picture, with showers and some sunshine, before wet and windy conditions resume at the start of next week.

Rain has fallen every day of 2026 in the South West and South Wales, the Met Office announced this week.

Both regions have faced 50% more rainfall than usual for January, the forecaster said.

Meanwhile, the South East received nearly a third of its average February rainfall in just the first three days of the month.

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"Unfortunately, there's no end in sight," said Dan Stroud, operational meteorologist with the Met Office.

His colleague Alex Deakin said the trend continued on Friday.

He said: "Friday's been a very soggy day across a good chunk of the country, cold wind continuing to feed in the cloud and the moisture across north-east England and eastern Scotland."

Speaking earlier this week, Mr Stroud blamed a "big area of high pressure" for the sustained bleakness.

He said: "Very little in the way of change, and the reason for it really is that we've got a big area of high pressure way out to the far north and east of the country, and that's stopping areas of low pressure from moving through.

"Until that area of high pressure sort of shifts out of the way, we're not really going to see much of a change in the forecast.

"At the same time, we've got the jet stream way to the south, bringing exceptional wet weather to Spain and Portugal."

(c) Sky News 2026: Dozens of flood warnings issued in UK as more downpours expected