Met Office puts 18 UK areas on alert for heavy downpours as huge band of rain on way

Met Office puts 18 UK areas on alert for heavy downpours as huge band of rain on way The UK is set for downpours with up to 32mm falling in an hour in some areas as a 250-mile band of rain sweeps the country before hotter weather arrives Brits are set to be battered by heavy downpours with 18 areas on alert as a 250-mile band of rain sweeps across the country. After days of wet and chilly conditions, the outlook is for scorching temperatures ahead but there's more bad weather expected before then with heavy rain due to hit the country by Tuesday. Low pressure fronts are moving in from the Atlantic leading to unsettled conditions and rain in midweek. BBC weather forecaster Jennifer Bartram: "As we look from Monday into Tuesday, wind is dying down all the time but the next cluster of weather fronts are going to be moving in and this one in particular developing a bit of a wave will bring a heavier spell of rain for a time. "So Tuesday morning some showers and brisk winds across parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland too, but it is after we get into the afternoon that this lump of rain moves in across parts of southwest England, Wales and the Midlands. South of that, we might get to 24C where we hang onto the sunshine, always cooler a little bit further north." A Met Office map shows the heaviest rain is set to fall on the afternoon and evening of Tuesday affecting mainly the Midlands, the southwest, parts of Wales and Scotland, with up to 8mm falling in the hour before 7pm. In northern Scotland rain could fall at a rate of up to 32mm per hour over the same period. In its forecast for Monday, the Met Office says: "Staying dry with sunny spells. Showers track east across southern areas, possibly thundery. Cloud thickens in the west and north with evening rain. Winds light to moderate, temperatures near average." And then for Tuesday to Thursday: "Cloudy in the west and north with rain at times, heavy in places. Brighter spells developing. Blustery showers later, especially north. Generally warm in the southeast, near average elsewhere." Areas facing the heaviest rain on Tuesday - Birmingham - Warwickshire - Leicestershire - Staffordshire - Shropshire - Somerset - Powys - Denbighshire - Gwynedd - Ceredigion - Conwy - Swansea - North Port Talbot - Highlands - Perth and Kinross - Angus - Aberdeenshire - Sterling