Weather maps showing the forecast for the final days of April have turned blue under a deluge of predicted heavy rainfall.
An explosive, nearly country-wide rainy system is expected to make landfall during the coming week, coating most of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
What looks like a developing storm could pour out more than a centimetre of precipitation per hour, with some red patches appearing on maps released by WXCharts.
If it develops as expected, the system will conclude what has been a chaotic month for the UK, with a named storm having slammed the country with severe weather just weeks ago.
Maps from WXCharts show that as with storm Kathleen, the coming rain will come with strong gusts of wind that could quickly build toward gale-force strengths.
Overview maps from the service show a system organising off the southwest coast on Friday, April 27, approaching from the Atlantic Ocean.
Heavy rain and strong winds appear likely to develop in the early hours, first over Ireland, where residents on the east coast could see up to 44mm of rain (1.73 inches) fall per hour.
The rainfall is expected to continue for several hours, after which the rain storm will migrate further east and blanket the country.
When it does so, it will be less severe, reaching totals of around 22mm per hour (0.8 inches) on the Welsh west coast at first before spreading throughout the home nations.
Almost no part of the country will be left untouched, as the rain falls over 600 miles from north to south, with only the coastal Scottish Highlands appearing dry on April 28.
As the most severe rainfall develops on the west coast, dangerous gusts will follow, with a storm eye settling between England and Ireland’s southeast coast.
Wind speeds could reach between 62 and 89kph (38 to 55mph) pummelling Wales and the southwest English coast at Devon.
The gusts will ripple through the UK, moving northeast before dissipating off the coast with the rain by late on April 29.
Before Britons tackle heavy rain, people living on the European mainland must brave a “catastrophic” morning frost that could damage agricultural products over a massive area.
Forecasters at Severe Weather Europe have said that over the “next few days”, a dangerous frost will descend on “most of Central Europe”.
The forecast predicts: “The next few days will sadly result in what we were afraid of. There is a high-risk potential for a catastrophic morning frost across most of central Europe.
“The air mass is so cold for late April that it could significantly damage blooming fruit trees, vineyards, and crops.”
