Heavy rain threatens Easter bank holiday washout as Met Office warning extended to parts of UK

19 April 2025, 23:36

Heavy rain is threatening to dampen the Easter bank holiday after the Met Office extended forecasts of rain across the UK.

“Prolonged spell of rain” which struck parts of England over Good Friday will be followed by a spell of "changeable" weather, according to the Met Office.

Easter Monday is expected to fall victim to particularly heavy downpours, as forecasters predict heavy rain pushing through spells of sunshine.

A weather system "pushing into the far south east " is expected to affect spells of sunny weather, as the mercury hit 15C on Good Friday and into Saturday.

"Easter morning will be rather grey with outbreaks of rain across Northern Ireland and the far west of Scotland," the Met Office warned.

The meteorological body highlighted that "a scattering of showers" was also expected across parts of the country "first thing" on Monday.

Flood alerts are also set to remain in place across parts of the UK affected by previous warnings for rain.

Meteorologist Jonathan Vautrey said: “[On Saturday] We’ve got continuing outbreaks of rain across many western districts - those will be heavy in places, particularly for Northern Ireland and North Western Scotland, they’ll be continuing right throughout much of today.

“It should be an improving picture though for Wales and southwest England into the afternoon, the rain will ease and it will turn drier allowing for a few brighter spells to develop.

“But the best of any sunnier breaks will be towards eastern Scotland and England.

He adds: “This rain will be lingering into the evening as well particularly in the Outer Hebrides, parts of the Highlands, Argyll and Bute, easing a little bit more overnight for Northern Ireland.

“We do also see another system pushing into the far south east closer towards dawn on Easter Sunday.”

Up to 75mm of rain could hit the south-west of England heading into the weekend, with areas like Cornwall, Devon, Plymouth and Torbay hit hardest as yellow weather warnings were put in place.

Residents were advised by the forecaster that flooding of some homes and businesses is possible, along with longer journey times for travellers.

The downpours may also be accompanied by “windy” conditions, the Met Office added.