UK FACES 6 WEEKS’ RAIN IN 12 HOURS

® BRITAIN faces floods and travel chaos today with a month-and-a-half’s worth of rain in 12 hours.

The “European Monsoon” was set to begin last night and forecasters warned downpours could last all week.

Rush hour traffic will grind to a halt as 72mm of rain swamps the South and East by this afternoon.

The area typically gets 44-47mm of rain in the whole of June.

Britain is braced for flash floods to swamp roads and train lines.

The torrential downpours have sparked weather warnings for swathes of the nation.

Flood alerts have been issued for the East Midlands, West Midlands, the South West, London and the South East, and Northern Ireland.

The Weather Outlook forecaster Brian Gaze said: “The ‘European Monsoon’ has returned, with low pressure dominating and an Atlantic flow.

“After Atlantic winds tend to moderate in late spring, they become more vigorous again at this time of year, bringing cloud and rain in from the Atlantic.” The washout week ends a mini heatwave in which temperatures soared to 35C last week. But sunny skies are set to return next week in time for Wimbledon fortnight, with days of uninterrupted play from Monday.

And, weeks of scorching temperatures could be in store for Brits in July as forecasters predict more sizzling summer days ahead.