Is August going to be a washout?

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We had high hopes for a sunny August, but after a few days of sunshine the north is now facing severe flooding as a result of heavy rain.

Yesterday emergency services were called out to deal with a large number of weather-related incidents due to severe flooding in the north east of England and Northern Ireland.

Durham and Northumberland were worst hit and Scotland is also on flood alert.

A spokesman for County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service said that they had received up to 100 calls relating to the weather and they have advised people not to travel unless absolutely necessary.

An extreme rainfall alert was issued by the Flood Forecasting Centre, with experts predicting rainfall amounts of up to 70mm in six hours in some areas.

Parts of Scotland are now expecting heavy rain, and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency said that areas at risk include much of the east from Aberdeenshire to the Borders, along with Perthshire and west central Scotland.

The areas most at risk of flooding in England are Cumbria, Darlington, Durham, Hartlepool, Middlesborough, North Yorkshire, Northumberland, Redcar and Cleveland, Stockton-on-Tees and Tyne and Wear.

Heavy rain is expected to continue today and tomorrow, with the risk of more rain spreading from the west on Tuesday.

It looks like we won't be having any barbecues for a while then, eh?

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