Will Dennis be deadly?

Alert as up to 6in of rain forecast after killer Ciara

‘DANGER to life’ weather warnings during Storm Dennis have been upgraded as downpours are set to lash the country for the second weekend running.

Following four deaths during Storm Ciara last week, the Met office raised the alert to amber for Dartmoor and south Devon, most of Wales, the Pennines and large swathes of Yorkshire – where up to 5.5in of rain is expected to fall.

The amber warning area includes towns in West Yorkshire where hundreds of homes were flooded after Storm Ciara brought more than a month’s rain last weekend. In York, where the ouse peaked at more than 14ft on Tuesday, river levels remained high at nearly 11ft yesterday.

‘Homes and businesses are likely to be flooded. Fast-flowing or deep flood water is likely, causing danger to life,’ the Met office said.

Storm Dennis is likely to cause gusts of up to 50mph around the country until midday tomorrow, rising to 70mph in southern and western coastal areas. But last night rail firms had not warned passengers not to travel – unlike during Storm Ciara, which brought gales of up to 97mph.

The amber warning is in place from noon today until 3pm tomorrow, and a wider yellow weather warning for heavy rain is in place until 9pm. This covers southern England, the North West, Wales,

Cumbria and the Pennines, with up to two inches of rain forecast.

Storm Dennis will also bring mild temperatures of up to 14C (57F) in southern England this weekend, before returning to cold and blustery weather next week. Steven Willington, of the Met office, said: ‘There is a risk of significant impacts from flooding, including damage to property and danger to life from fast flowing floodwater.’