A children’s play park remains covered by flood waters on the Racecourse Sportsground in Tonbridge, Kent, as more heavy rain sweeps across the country. Photo: PA WireA children’s play park remains covered by flood waters on the Racecourse Sportsground in Tonbridge, Kent, as more heavy rain sweeps across the country. Photo: PA Wire

The UK is braced for more storms with a wave of heavy rain and strong winds set to cause disruption as 2014 begins.

Forecasters yesterday said the latest severe weather will push in from the Atlantic, crossing the UK from west to east, and it is feared there could be localised flooding in the south west and south east of England.

Flood warnings have been issued by the Environment Agency as already-sodden land, yet to recover from the Christmas storms, is expected to struggle to cope with further rainfall.

Councils are preparing for the worst, with emergency accommodation lined up in case people are forced to leave their homes.

The Met Office has issued a severe weather warning for rain on New Year’s Day, affecting southern England and western Scotland.

Met Office spokesman Dan Williams said: “There is a big band of rain that will bring persistent rain to most parts of the UK through the day on Wednesday. It will be a pretty wet and windy day. “It won’t be on a par with the winds we’ve seen in some of the recent storms, but exposed areas of the western coast and some of the south coast will see speeds of 50 to 60mph. There could be a fair amount of rain in the south and south west of England, with 10-20mm falling fairly widely, and up to 40mm in coast areas.”

Latest severe weather will push in from the Atlantic

Scotland saw heavy rainfall yesterday, with Threave in Kirkcudbrightshire experiencing 66mm of rain in the 20 hours up until 2pm, while Eskdalemuir in Dumfriesshire had 65mm.

The Environment Agency said there was a continuing risk of flooding, particularly in the south west of England, as rivers respond to heavy rainfall.

A spokesman said: “On new year’s day, heavy rain is expected which could cause flooding to communities in the south east and south west of England.

“The Environment Agency is urging communities to prepare in advance by signing up for free flood warnings and to take action if they receive one. A flood warning indicates that flooding is expected.”

The agency said it has teams on the ground “around the clock” operating pumping stations, issuing flood warnings and checking that flood banks, walls and barriers are working effectively. It said: “People travelling this week are also reminded to check the latest flood updates ahead of making journeys.”

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