Videos shared on social media showed a roundabout near a river in Truro, Cornwall, quickly flooding as showers rolled in. An orange storm warning has been issued by the Met Office for the county, as well as Devon and Somerset, with the possibility of flooding to homes and businesses considered likely. It comes after weeks of little rain and high temperatures that have caused droughts in several parts of the country. Image: Yellow and orange storm warnings issued for parts of the UK Get the five-day forecast right where you are Residents have also been warned that there could be power outages, fast-flowing or deep life-threatening flooding, transport disruptions and communities cut off by flooded roads. One man, Ruan Sims, said the water level was the highest he had ever seen in Cornwall. “It was pretty crazy. We’ve never seen it go that high,” the garage manager said. “It didn’t go into the garage, but it went all the way to the wall.” He added that the water flooded suddenly as the rain started, but then drained completely about 10 minutes later. Image: Staff at The Milky Way in Devon clear floodwaters inside the premises Yellow storm warnings Yellow storm warnings have been issued for most of the UK on Tuesday and southern England on Wednesday. Storms have already developed in east coast counties including Essex, Suffolk and Lincolnshire. “There have been areas of the country that have mainly seen the heavy rain today, in the south-west of England,” Met Office forecaster Tom Morgan said. “We’ve seen some flooding in parts of Cornwall and Devon,” he continued, adding there had been “very difficult driving conditions, flooding, hail and some lightning”. “There is just as much potential for tomorrow to be as impactful as today,” he said. Inverness in Scotland was hit by heavy rain on Sunday, with footage and photos shared online showing water leaking from the roof of a cinema and flooding a Tesco store. Image: Lightning strikes in Wishaw, North Lanarkshire “Prepare for flash floods” In London, residents were told to prepare for flash flooding in the event of heavy rainfall. London Mayor Sadiq Khan said he had written to “tens of thousands” of households living in homes that could be affected. Read more: What happens during a drought and how can you help? How little rain has your area had compared to previous years? “We learned a lot from last year in July when there was flash flooding caused by a huge amount of rain – two months’ worth of rain – in just a few hours and business houses and public transport were flooded,” he said. “We are concerned that the next few days could see a huge amount of rain in a short period of time which could lead to flash flooding.” Last year, several train and metro stations were forced to close due to heavy rains. Flooding in Ireland Heavy rain and flooding hit parts of Ireland after storms. Forecasters have extended the orange storm warning until 10pm on Monday night for Munster as well as counties Wexford, Carlow, Kilkenny, Laois, Offaly, Kildare, Wicklow and Dublin. Weeks of high temperatures and dry conditions As a result of the dry ground in recent weeks, experts have warned that the potential for flooding is greater as surfaces act “a bit like concrete” and water drains rather than seeps. “There’s damage to homes and businesses that these floods can cause and inconvenience with disruption to transport, but if it’s very heavy in one place it can also be very dangerous,” said Professor Hannah Cloke, a hydrology expert at the University of Reading . Follow The Daily podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker On how it could affect cities and towns, he said: “If it rains in a city, the drainage system can cope up to a point, but if there’s really heavy rain it can overwhelm the system – the rain can’t run away fast enough”. On Friday, the National Drought Group moved parts of south-west, south and central England and the whole of East England into an official state of drought, while six water companies announced tire bans.
