Storm Babet: Met Office weather warning issued for Liverpool as parts of UK on red alert

The Met Office has issued a rare red weather warning for parts of the UK with heavy rain causing ‘danger to life’ from flooding as Storm Babet arrives. It is the first red alert for rain issued in the UK since Storm Dennis in February 2020.

Storm Babet will bring 70mph gusts and over one month’s worth of rain in the worst-affected regions of the UK on Thursday. Scotland will be affected the most and there are expected to be extensive road closures.

On Thursday morning (October 19), the Met Office issued weather warnings for rain across Liverpool and Merseyside, as the North West region is set see ‘thundery showers’ and strong winds.

The yellow weather warnings are in place from 00.00 on Friday, October 20 until 6.00 on Saturday.

Met Office weather forecast for Liverpool

• ⛅Thursday, October 19: Cloudy changing to sunny intervals by lunchtime. High of 18°C.
• 🌧️ Friday, October 20: Heavy rain. High of 14°C. ⚠️
• 🌧️ Saturday, October 21: Weather warning. High of 13°C. ⚠️
• ⛅ Sunday, October 22: Cloudy changing to sunny intervals by late morning. High of 13°C.
• ☁️ Monday, October 23: Cloudy. High of 14°C.
• ⛅ Tuesday, October 24: Cloudy changing to sunny intervals by late morning. High of 14°C.
• 🌧️ Wednesday, October 25: Cloudy changing to light showers in the afternoon. High of 14°C.

Red weather warning

The red weather warning covers parts of the east of Scotland, including Brechin, Forfar and Kirriemuir and is in place from 18.00 on Thursday, October 19 until 12.00 on Friday. Impacts highlighted as part of the red warning is a danger to life from flood water, extensive flooding to homes and businesses and severely disrupted travel conditions. 

Met Office Chief Meteorologist Jason Kelly said: “Confidence has increased in the chances of considerable impacts from rainfall in parts of the east of Scotland from Storm Babet, which has resulted in the escalation to the red warning. 

“100-150mm of rain is expected to fall quite widely within the warning period, with some locations likely to see 200-250mm, which is expected to cause considerable impacts with flooding likely.”

Jason continued: “Storm Babet will track gradually northwards in the coming days, and although the most significant impacts are expected within the Red and Amber warning areas, there will still be wider impacts for much of the UK from this wind and rain.”

Met Office UK long range weather forecast (October 23 - November 3)

According to the Met Office: “A fairly mixed picture at the start of the week with some drier, settled interludes between areas of rain or showers. Further through the period it will likely turn more unsettled generally with larger areas of cloud and rain blowing in from the Atlantic, heavy at times, possibly accompanied by stronger winds.

“The rainfall may be focused more in the south than in recent days, with northern and especially north-western areas possibly ending up a little drier than average overall, but all areas will see rain at times. There is a risk of some strong winds at times, mainly in the west and northwest. Temperatures will be close to average for the time of year.”