Warnings of heavy rain and risk of flooding in parts of South West

LARGE swathes of the UK are facing potentially damaging weather in the coming days, with ice and snow in the north and heavy rain affecting Devon and Cornwall.

The Met Office has issued a series of warnings for snow and ice across the North East and large parts of Scotland while a large band of rain will also affect parts of the South West for much of today.

The Environment Agency had 56 flood warnings in place across

England yesterday morning, meaning immediate action is required.

In Devon there were flood alerts for the Barnstaple, Braunton, Ilfracombe and Combe Martin areas, the rivers of Exmoor, including the Exe down to Exeter, the South coast from Dawlish to Start Point and the Upper Tamar.

In Cornwall there were five flood alerts in place for the North Cornwall coast from Chapel Porth to the Rumps and Lands End all the way to Hartland Point, the tidal river Camel and the upper Tamar River.

Nicola Maxey, a Met Office spokeswoman, said the downpours will be caused by a weather front moving in from the South West.

Ms Maxey said: “From Friday evening we’ve got a series of weather fronts bringing rain across Cornwall and much of Devon.”