People in Plymouth have been told to expect heavy rainfall and thunderstorms after huge floods hit part of the UK, causing rivers to burst their banks and block some roads.
Homeowners have been issued flood warnings after “biblical” amounts of rain hit part of the UK, causing a river to burst its banks.
Onlookers were left shocked after a huge amount of rainfall left people in Plymouth battling to get around in the deep water after the River Yealm at Yealmpton spilled out onto the roads. Many parts of the town are impassable, including the Boldventure area, as motorists head out towards Noss Mayo and Newton Ferrers.
The A3121 from Ermington to Yealmpton has also been hit by standing water. The Met Office has since come out and declared a thunderstorm warning for the entirety of Devon and all of the South West. One person in Plymouth who witnessed the flooding said: “Yealmpton – River Yealm has burst its banks. Must have been biblical rain here. This is the corner of Boldventure – no traffic can get from Yealmpton to Newton and Noss.”
Thunder has also been heard in the Barbican area of Plymouth and wider areas of Devon have also heard rumbling. Short spells of heavy rain have also brought more misery. The warning from the weather agency came into effect at 1pm today, with many being told to brace themselves for sudden floods and trickier driving conditions.
It’s also possible the likes of Yealmpton could be cut off by flooded and blocked roads. It explained how there could be a chance of delays and some cancellations to train and bus services. There is a small chance that homes and businesses could be flooded quickly, with damage to some buildings from floodwater, the Plymouth Herald reports.
Experts aren’t expecting the poor weather to last long, with weather charts predicting next weekend’s Bank Holiday to be much warmer – including a mini heatwave to hit parts of the UK. Some have even predicting temperatures could hit 30C in some places.
Meteorologist Alex Deakin previously said: “There is not a strong signal, and that is often the case for this time of year, because it is May, because there is not a lot of contrast between the North Pole and the Equator, there is not a lot of power in the jet stream.
“There are hints… hints of high pressure. There are some signs of high pressure but it is far from nailed on. It is weak, it is just slightly more chance than not of high pressure… There has been a bit of chatter about high pressure returning. We can’t really talk about that at this stage. There are a few signals at the moment, but pretty weak signals.”
