Weather could take turn for worse

The South East and mid Wales have been worst hit by the rain which has battered Britain.

Brighton has had nearly three times the average rainfall for the whole month in 11 days, and the Environment Agency still has flood warnings for the region.

The wet weather is set to continue for the coming days and could take a turn for the worse on Friday.

Julian Mayes, a forecaster for Meteogroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said: "The highest total - apart from mid Wales - is for Brighton, which has had 122mm (4.8in) of rain since the start of June.

"To put that into perspective, the average for the whole month is 50mm (2in)."

Mr Mayes said figures for mid Wales - which experienced flash flooding on Saturday - are more difficult to collate, but up to 150mm (5.9in) is likely to have fallen across Friday and Saturday.

The Environment Agency has issued around 40 flood alerts across England and Wales, and five flood warnings for:

:: River Colne at Colney Heath, Herts, including North Mymms;

:: The Aldingbourne and Lidsey Rifes at Felpham, West Sussex, including Whitfield Close, the A259, Links Avenue, and Butlins Holiday Centre;

:: The Aldingbourne Rife at Bersted, West Sussex, including Addison Way, Riverside Caravan Park, and South Bersted industrial estate;

:: Properties near the River Ouzel between Simpson and Woolstone, near Milton Keynes, including Monkston Park;

:: River Ouzel at Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, including areas from Leighton Road to Firs Path.

There are 33 flood alerts in the South East, 5 in the Anglian region, and one each in the Midlands, North East and South West.

In the last 24 hours, 27 flood warnings and alerts have been removed.

There are no severe flood warnings, the highest alert, which means there is an immediate danger to life.

Mr Mayes said: "The reason it has been so wet in the South is because the jet stream has switched from its normal position just to the north of Scotland to down over southern England this month, and depressions follow that feature."

On the other hand, Scotland is enjoying unusually dry weather for this time of year.

Glasgow has had 28mm (1.1in), and Oban, normally one of the wettest parts of the western Highlands, has had 9mm (0.4in) this month.

"It's a reversal of the average weather pattern," Mr Mayes said. "Normally it gets wetter as you go to the North West. This month it gets wetter as you go south."

It has also been gloomy in the South. Brize Norton in Oxfordshire recorded 11 hours of sunshine in the first 11 days of the month - an average of one hour a day.

Mr Mayes said he would expect an average of seven hours each day.

The forecast for the coming days is more of the same cool, wet weather.

"The pattern is continuing but the South is getting the worst this month," the forecaster said. "It could get worse on Friday."

Emergency teams waded through water and used boats to reach some 250 vulnerable homes in the village of Elmer, West Sussex, to ensure people were safe amid reports of flooding up to 6ft deep.

Nigel Croad, deputy chief executive of Arun District Council, said: "Three rest centres have been set up across the district in the last 24 hours in response to the exceptional weather conditions.

"We've kept people dry, safe and warm and helped those affected contact their insurance companies, find alternative accommodation and, in some cases, have housed people ourselves in temporary bed and breakfast accommodation."

Chief Superintendent Paul Morrison, of Sussex Police, said: "I can assure residents that working with partner agencies we are doing all we can to care for those affected by the floods.

"We are constantly reviewing the situation with partners and have created a multi-agency adverse weather office to coordinate our response."