UK weather: Huge megastorm to batter Britain in hours as new maps pinpoint towns affected

Britain is poised for storm chaos today as the Met Office places much of England and Wales under a 48 hour's worth of weather warnings. Some areas are set to receive a month's worth of rain in one sitting, leading to flooding fears.

The forecaster has warned of "potential disruption" to roads and railways, with chances of power cuts and communities being "cut off". Sunday's rain alert lasts until midnight, and blankets nearly all of England and Wales.

The only exception appears to be the far eastern coastline of Norfolk. The Met Office said: "Whilst the strongest signal for impactful rainfall totals appears to be centred across east Wales and west-central England, there is potential right across this highlighted region for some places to see 40-70 mm in 2-3 hours, with a chance that a few places could receive 80-100 mm through the course of the day."

South-west England will also see torrential downpours this morning, with some thundery outbreaks during the day. The rain will continue to push north and west - with the east copping the brunt by end of play.

A new weather warning for rain comes into force in the early hours of tomorrow morning.

A huge rain deluge is set to hit more areas within the next 24 hours, the forecaster says. "There is still some uncertainty regarding which areas will be affected by the heaviest rain, but at this stage parts of the Midlands, northeast England and east Wales look most likely to see the greatest accumulations," a statement says.

"However, anywhere within the warning area could have impactful rainfall through the course of Monday. There is potential that 30-50 mm could develop in any part of the warning area, much of which could fall in six hours or less. Some locations could see 80-100 mm over the course of 12 to 24 hours."

To put this into context, an average amount of rainfall for September is estimated between 60 to 90mm. While Tuesday, September 24 currently remains free of weather warnings, this could change within the next few hours.

Forecasters at Netweather say while models have been sketchy at earmarking exact areas set for flooding chaos, there has been more alignment for today's showers.

It says: "Overall, it looks probable that while the most persistent rain will be over west Wales, the highest rainfall totals will probably be concentrated over the West Midlands, with potential for some areas to see over a month's worth of rain this weekend."

Weather maps show more heavy rain blasting Brits right up until mid-week. Wednesday inparticular looks to see a repeat of today - with large areas of central England covered in bands of torrential downpours.

The Met Office outlook for mid-week onwards says: "Fairly settled on Tuesday with sunny spells and perhaps a few showers. Feeling cooler. Turning more widely wet and windy from Wednesday."