Riders on the storm
Downpours ruin our weekend – with Hurricane Lorenzo on way
‘Frosts and wintry showers’
THE atrocious weather that swept across the country at the weekend is not going away, forecasters warned last night.
A month’s worth of rain fell in some regions over the past two days and more is expected.
A rush of Arctic air will deliver a blast of chilly autumnal weather, with snow flurries over high ground, and the remnants of Hurricane Lorenzo bringing gales.
The 160mph storm is expected to reach Britain on Thursday night, by which time it will have lost some of its power. More than 70 flood warnings were in place last night across England and Wales with ground saturated by up to four inches of rain. Foot holm Flume in Lancashire saw the most rain with 95.2mm (3.75in) in 36 hours.
The extreme conditions meant the route of the UCI road cycling world championship in North Yorkshire had to be changed at the last minute while the fan zone in Harrogate was shut down.
A regatta on the Thames in London also fell foul of the weather and a railway line across the Pennines was closed by a mudslide.
Becky Mitchell of the Met office said: ‘ We’ve got another area of heavy rain pushing in which could spell very tricky travelling conditions. Then from Wednesday we will see chilly Arctic air which will make everywhere feel much cooler than it has recently. Instead of temperatures in the low 20s Celsius we will see just 12-14C (54-57F) during the day, with overnight frosts and potentially wintry showers over the Scottish peaks.’
She said it was very unusual for a storm as powerful as Lorenzo to get so close to the UK, adding: ‘It’s likely to weaken into an area of low pressure, but while we don’t yet know if it will hit us, it could still bring widespread gales.’
A man died and two other people were seriously injured when a car hit a tree and overturned in heavy rain near Fontwell, West Sussex, on Saturday night.
Two campers spending the night on Dartmoor were found at dawn by rescue teams after their tent and belongings were swept away.