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Tuesday, 17 November 2015 07:32

Storm Barney set to increase UK flood risk

Barney, the second storm to be named by the Met Office this season, is set to bring additional rain and damaging winds to the United Kingdom on Tuesday.

"Barney will be a fast-moving storm, bringing locally strong winds to southern Ireland and the southern U.K. beginning midday Tuesday and continuing into Tuesday night," AccuWeather Meteorologist Eric Leister said.

Winds will gust to 75 mph (120 km/h) in the areas hit hardest, including Cardiff, Plymouth and Bristol through Tuesday night.

Winds to this speed can down tree branches, cause power outages and result in minor to moderate coastal flooding, especially at high tide. In the Greater London area, winds will be weaker but could still gust in excess of 50 mph (80 km/h) at times.

In addition to wind, Barney will also cause heavy rain in Northern Ireland into Wales and Northwest England which will worsen flooding from ex-Hurricane Kate over the weekend.

Between Saturday and Monday morning, Gwynedd and Powys counties in Wales received the heaviest rain, totaling over 106.0 mm (4.1 inches) and over 82 mm (3.2 inches), respectively, according to the Met Office.

High river levels in at Machynlleth resulted in the cancellation of train services between Aberystwyth and Shrewsbury over the weekend, according to the BBC. Other routes were delayed due to speed restrictions.

Heavy rain also fell widely across the North West of England, with the heaviest being over the higher ground of Cumbria, according to the Met Office, with rivers overflowing their banks in the county.

AccuWeather said the additional rain from Storm Barney will make flooding problems worse in the regions that were worst-hit over the weekend.

Rainfall from Barney will generally total around 25 mm (1 inch), but as much as 50 mm (2 inches) can fall in some areas.

The Environment Agency has issued a yellow low-risk flood warning for Wales and the North East and North West of England on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Click here for more information on the Environment Agency’s major three-day conference and exhibition Flood and Coast 2016 which takes place from 23rd to 25th February 2016 in Telford.