London weather: Torrential rain and gales set to batter capital as Storm Jonas fallout hits the UK

Torrential rain and gales are forecast in London
Michael Clarke26 January 2016

London is set to be battered by fierce gales and heavy rain from today as the fallout from Storm Jonas hits the UK.

Huge swathes of the country are braced for gales that could reach 70mph with forecasters issuing warnings of fresh flooding as four inches of rain could fall in parts of the country.

Rain is expected to spread from the west and into London, becoming persistent by tonight.

The government said the military were on standby to support flood-hit communities.

Storm Jonas unleashed chaos over the United States at the weekend as near-record levels of snowfall hit much of the east coast.

Laura Caldwell, a forecaster at MeteoGroup, said heavy rain had hit western Scotland and north-west England overnight.

She said: "Between 10 and 25mm fell in a few hours overnight in those areas and through the course of today the rain will sweep across most of the UK. Southern Scotland, the west of England and Wales will be particularly affected.

"This is the remnants of storm Jonas. The warmer, very moist, tropical air is bringing in this potentially very high rainfall."

The weather front has swept across the Atlantic bringing heavy rain and gales with weather warnings in place across Wales, Scotland, Lancashire, Cumbria, Yorkshire and Devon and Cornwall.

The Environment Agency said areas already affected by record river levels were likely to be at risk of flooding as heavy rain throughout Tuesday and into Wednesday could cause river levels to rise and drains to flood.

Environment Secretary Elizabeth Truss has chaired an emergency meeting in order to co-ordinate the Government's response to the expected rainfall, which could be as much as 100mm (3.9ins) in hilly areas.

Lancashire, Cumbria and Yorkshire were some of the worst affected last month by Storm Desmond, which ruined thousands of homes and businesses and forced residents to leave flooded properties.

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