Britons are advised to move milk in their fridges to the freezer when potentially hazardous weather hits, and it could be a wise move ahead of next weekend. Forecast data by WXCHARTS.COM on Tuesday showed heavy rainfall expected across 23 regions later this month.
The wet, windy front was forecast to move across the UK on Saturday, August 23, pelting the country with downpours of up to 25mm per hour by 6 p.m. The maps suggested it would predominantly impact northwestern Scotland and the coast of southwest England. Rain was expected to start falling at midnight on August 23 and grow in intensity by the hour.
The rainy front will cause the most disruption in western Scotland and southwest England. From midnight on August 23, a stretch of the country, from Cheshire down to Norfolk, will be drenched.
Energy firm British Gas has various recommendations for how Britons should prepare for bad storms, given that they can be hazardous and, in some cases, cause power outages.
These include freezing milk, spare meat and poultry.
British Gas says on its website: “Buy appliance thermometers for both your fridge and freezer to check that they stay safe during a power cut (-18°C for freezers and 4°C for fridges).
“Keep some bagged or dry ice at home. Freeze leftovers like milk, meat and poultry. If you find yourself without power, they’ll last longer.”
The Met Office’s long-range forecast covering Monday, August 18 to Wednesday, August 27, anticipates that high pressure “will be dominant across much of the UK at the start of this period”.
“This will bring a good deal of fine and dry weather with spells of sunshine for many. Any showers will probably be confined to the southwest of the UK but could be heavy and thundery.
“Temperatures are likely to be well above normal, especially in the south. Later, it will likely become more changeable with some showers or longer spells of rain at times.
However, it adds that rainfall is “expected to be highest in the south where some heavy, thundery showers are possible, with drier conditions further north”.
“Some periods of dry and settled weather are also likely to develop at times. Temperatures are expected to be above normal.”
Meanwhile, a yellow weather warning for thunderstorms covering Scotland and much of Northern Ireland is currently in place until 10pm today, with the Met Office warning that where “heavy downpours occur, 20-40 mm of rain could accumulate in less than an hour, bringing the risk of some surface water flooding”, adding: “Hail and lightning will be additional hazards.””
You can find the latest warnings and further guidance here.
