Thunderstorm warning - A month's worth of rain possible by Friday
THUNDERSTORMS BY FRIDAY - Up to month's worth of rain in a day!
Showers will become increasingly more widespread and heavy through this week as an area of low pressure sweeps in from the Atlantic.
Showers will merge to longer spells of rain by Thursday, slow moving and thundery by Friday.
Warnings are now in place for the second half of the week.
Slow moving, thundery downpours may cause localised surface water impacts, with the potential for 40-100mm rainfall in parts of the north west by the time we reach the weekend.
The warning area currently covers all of the North West.
Rainfall totals will vary considerably and not all locations will be affected by the heaviest showers. However, where the showers do occur there is potential for 20-30mm of rain in a short space of time and during the course of the day there is a chance that some places could see as much as 80-100mm build up.
.....if this happens that would be over the month's average for North West England! The average (depending on where in the region you live) is between 75-105mm for August.
WHAT TO EXPECT...
Spray and sudden flooding could lead to difficult driving conditions and some road closures
Where flooding or lightning strikes occur, there is a chance of delays and some cancellations to train and bus services
There is a small chance that homes and businesses could be flooded quickly, with damage to some buildings from floodwater.